Becoming Cipher
by Alec and Alyssa Moon
Summary: Previously Revivisco (Revive). It's been four years since Weirdmageddon, and the world's only gotten stranger. People are adjusting, though. Bill is given a second chance at life, and the Pines are willing to help him adjust. They've all forgiven him, but can he forgive himself?
1. Return to Gravity Falls

**Alyssa: Hi everyone!**

 **Alec: We got the idea for this yesterday.**

 **Alyssa: No we didn't!**

 **Alec: Well, we've been working on versions of it, but it was finalized today.**

 **Alyssa: Yup!**

 **Alec: We don't own Gravity Falls, just our OCs and the plot.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

"We _are currently in the process of desegregating our world,"_ the woman said. _"Ever since the paranormal and mundane worlds have merged, both sides have been terrified of each other, refusing to interact."_

Dipper was listening to a recording of a news announcement he got off the internet. It had aired while he was in school, but he still wanted to listen to it. After all, it was a speech given by Ariel Iridia, the head of the High Council, which was a governing body that pretty much ruled the world in all but name.

 _"Any interactions that DID happen so far have often ended in mayhem and disaster. "_

He snorted. "Got that right," he muttered, remembering how all this had started- Weirdmageddon. After they stopped Bill, the strange "anomalies" that had been so common in Gravity Falls spread to the rest of the world. Gnomes in downtown Portland, vampires on London Bridge, pixies in Central Park, among others. The High Council then emerged to make order out of the ensuing chaos and allowed everyone to coexist in relative peace.

 _"But now it's time to move forward. It's been four years since the Event. We all share this world, and it's about time we acted like it."_

The "Event." That's what the rest of the world called Weirdmageddon.

"Dipping Dots!" Mabel shouted. "Are you coming or are we leaving you here?"

"On my way!"

He sighed, turning off his phone and grabbing his suitcase before running out the door.

The car ride is long and quiet. Dipper stared out the window the entire time, thinking about why they were driving to Gravity Falls in September, two weeks into the school year. He'd gotten a call last night...

 _~Flashback!~_

 _"Hello?" Dipper said, not recognizing the number. Then again, he'd just gotten a new phone and only had about three phone number actually memorized, namely his mom's, his sister's, and his Grunkles'._

 _"Dipper, how are you?"_

 _He almost dropped the phone. "A-Ariel?!" Few people knew it, but the head of the High Council was good friends with Dipper, Mabel and their Grunkles._

 _"Yup!" Her demeanor instantly changed around Dipper, going from serious and calm to a much more playful attitude. It drove him crazy sometimes._

 _"Uh, what's up?"_

 _"He's waking up."_

The "He" Ariel was referring to was Bill Cipher. After defeating Bill, he fell to the earth. They spent hours searching the woods for him, wanting to make sure they were really rid of him.

That was how they met Ariel.

 _~YAY! Another flashback!~_

 _They ran into the clearing. "He should have landed here," Ford said._

 _Most of the clearing was gone, replaced with a smoldering crater. Someone was perched on the edge of the crater, looking into it. From the back it looked like an ordinary girl with purple hair in a high ponytail- which, admittedly, was a bit odd._

 _"Ma'am?" Ford called out, uncertain. Bill could still be alive. He could be possessing her._

 _She turned. Both the girl's bangs and eyes were a hot pink color. "Yes?"_

 _Everyone let out a sigh of relief. "Not possessed," Ford said._

 _"By Bill? Of course not, that little triangle couldn't do that even if he tried."_

 _"What?" Dipper asked, shocked._

 _"Oh, right! I'm Ariel Iridia, Queen of the Spirit World." She frowned. "Although, it's really odd, considering that now all the spirits have actual bodies. Very strange."_

 _"You know Bill?" Ford asked._

 _She nodded. "He studied under me a couple millennium ago." She sighed. "That was back when he was actually a decent person. Spirit. Demon. Whatever."_

 _"Is he... in there?"_

 _She nodded. "Really odd. He's human now. 100% mortal. But unconscious. He's been like that for an hour."_

So far, Bill had been in a coma for the past 4 years. Everyone agreed that they were going to wait and see what he was like when he woke up- if he woke up. They were going to see it as a "second chance" for him.

At first, Dipper had hated the idea of giving Bill a chance. Any chance. After what he'd done, Dipper felt like there was no way Bill could be forgiven, that he didn't deserve it.

But he'd grown up over the past four years. Visiting Bill in the hospital every so often, Dipper felt that being trapped within his own mind, that being forced to become human and being stripped of his powers was the universe's way of punishing Bill. So, in the end, he forgave Bill.

Ariel was waiting outside the hospital for them when they arrived. Their mom had dropped them off at the Mystery Shack and they'd driven to the hospital with their Grunkles.

Ariel shrieked, running up to hug Dipper and Mabel. "It's sooooo good to see you!" she exclaimed. She had somehow gotten a hold of an "aging bracelet"- it made her look ten years older when she had it on. She only wore the bracelet for High Council-related things. Naturally she looked about the same age as Dipper and Mabel. And Bill, at least, his apparent age.

"It's nice to see you too," Dipper said.

"Hey, quit acting like you haven't seen them in forever," Stan muttered. "It's only been a few weeks."

Dipper and Mabel continued to spend every summer in Gravity Falls, although they all agreed that the twins would move to Gravity Falls permanently after Bill woke up, to help everyone in dealing with them. Ariel technically lived in Seattle, but she would be moving to the small Oregon town as well. She'd already found an apartment and moved in last night.

The group made their way up to Bill's hospital room. The beeping of the monitors he was hooked up to was quite normal to them. Actually, Dipper found it a bit calming. He looked around at the various items the twins had put in the room. Cards and letters they'd written, the yellow triangle baseball cap Dipper'd gotten for the former demon two years ago, the sweaters Mabel had made, the stuffed animal the twins had gotten for him over the summer- which was in bed with the teen.

Bill's fingers twitched as they walked in. "He moved!" Mabel shouted.

Ford nodded. "He's been doing that the past couple of days, which is how we know he's waking up."

"His eyes started to move yesterday," Ariel said. "Maybe today he'll actually open them."

Dipper and Mabel stayed in the room while the others talked outside. Mabel left with them to grab dinner later. Dipper stayed in the room, watching Bill, hoping he'd actually wake up all the way.

Then, Bill moaned slightly. Dipper wasn't even sure it had happened, maybe he was hearing things.

Bill's eyelids fluttered. His eyes opened slowly. "Wha's going on?" he muttered, semi-coherent. He started to look around. "Pine Tree?!"


	2. Waking Up

**Alyssa: Yay! We have a review! I'm glad you liked the first chapter, so here's more. Wait, we already have SIX followers?!**

 **Alec: Yeah. And we only started this yesterday.**

 **Alyssa: Awesome! I'm gonna go tell Ariel! *runs out of room. Crashes and shouting can be heard***

 **Alec: *winces* Again, we only own our OCs and the story.**

 **Alyssa: *pops head back in* Remember to read and review!**

* * *

Mabel and Ariel waited in the car while Ford and Stan went into the restaurant to pick up food. There was an Asian take-out place that had opened up about three years ago, and they all loved it- maybe because they didn't have to deal with Stan's cooking.

Ariel was staring out the window, deep in thought when Mabel poked her. "Boop."

She raised an eyebrow. "'Boop?'"

Mabel grinned, poking her more. "Boop-boop." Then she tickled her stomach a bit.

Ariel laughed, batting her hand away. "Stop it, goofball!"

"Well, you looked so serious. And kinda sad. Was it about Bill?"

She nodded. Why did Mabel and Dipper understand her so well?! "Yeah. He's been trapped in his own mind for the past four years. I can tell that people he's angered- among the demons and spirits- have been going in to torment him, to remind him of all that he's done. And there's been a lot. I'm just... worried about what he's gonna be like after he wakes up."

"That's why we're here," Mabel said. "To help deal with whatever happens." She gave the spirit a reassuring smile. "It's gonna be okay, I promise."

"Y-yeah." She sighed, looking out the window again. "It's just, I never stopped blaming myself for what happened with Bill. If I'd just kept a better eye on him he would've never met Jared, would'be never become evil or tried to take over the world."

"You don't know that," Mabel said. "You might've made things worse that way."

She looked at the teen, shocked. "You think so?"

"Yup!" She grinned. "Now, let's talk about your make-over."

"What?! I never agreed to this!"

* * *

"Pine Tree?!" Bill was shocked that the boy who absolutely hated him was the first person he'd see. He figured it would be a stranger, or possibly Ford (although that wasn't very likely).

Dipper gave a slight smile. "Hey Bill." Why was he being polite? He looked older... how long had be been out?

He struggled to sit up, but his arms wouldn't let him. "Where am I?"

"The hospital. How much do you remember?"

"I remember you and the others defeating me. I remember falling, then nothing," he lied, not wanting to talk about how people had come to his mind to torment him.

"Ariel thought that's all you knew."

"ARIEL?!" His eyes darted around nervously. "Where is she?"

"Out getting food." Dipper told him about all that had happened while he was in a coma.

"So, what happens now?" Bill asked.

"You're gonna work on getting enough strength to move around first," Ford said. He was standing in the doorway with Stan, Mabel and Ariel.

"Then you're staying with the Pines after you're released from the hospital," Ariel said.

Bill gulped. "A-Ariel, I-"

"It's fine. What's done is done. Bygones, okay?"

He nodded. They all stayed with him until visiting hours were over, joking and telling stories. None of them were mad at him. Why were they all so okay with being around him?! Didn't they remember what he'd done?! He'd been such a horrible... _thing_ to them. He'd ruined their lives, almost destroyed the universe. Didn't they care?!

They had to hate him. How could anyone like a monster like him?

* * *

Ariel went home with the Pines. "He seemed okay to me," Stan said.

"He's not," Ariel said. "Didn't you notice how quiet he was?"

"He _is_ usually pretty talkative," Ford mentioned. "And annoying."

"Maybe he's upset about being human," Mabel said. "I bet it's really weird."

"He said he doesn't remember anything after he fell," Dipper said.

"I sure hope so," Ariel said. "I stepped inside his head once while he was in a coma. If he remembers all the torture he went through, well, we'll have a seriously broken ex-demon on our hands. Not gonna be fun."


	3. Old Enemies Arise

**Alyssa: Yay! More reviews!**

 **Alec: StarCre8tion- haha, yeah. I'm sure everyone's gonna enjoy reading about that. Here's more. As for the Guest, glad you liked it.**

 **Alyssa:Although he's not a baby! Oh, and I TOTALLY ship BillDip, so there's gonna be some of that, by the way!**

 **Alec: *groans inwardly* Yeah. By the way, if we take a while to update, it's because our parents kicked me out of the house for not being straight. And Alyssa took my side, so she's with me.**

 **Alyssa: Uh-huh. But we'll try to keep updating regularly!**

 **Alec: Also, we decided we're not going to post a new chapter unless we get at least one review. We wanna know what you guys think. Also, we own nothing except our OCs and the story.**

 **Alyssa: So please read and review!**

* * *

The next day, all five people who had spent the night decided to head out for breakfast. "I'm driving!" Ariel shouted, snatching the car keys before anyone could protest.

"Aw great," Stan groaned. "We're gonna die before we can even have breakfast."

"Agreed," Ford said.

"Hey! Just because I totaled a car ONE TIME does not make me a bad driver!" Ariel shouted.

"Yeah! And we were being chased by a troll!" Mabel argued in her friend's defense. Well, they'd become a bit more than just _friends_ over the past summer, but no one knew that except Dipper.

Dipper chuckled, shaking his head as he managed to slip the keys out of the spirit's hand. The three had been best friends since Weirdmageddon ended. Whenever they went on a mystery hunt from then on it was always at least Dipper, Mabel and Ariel. Sometimes Soos and Wendy- although Wendy was studying in Wales at the moment and Soos was living with his long-term girlfriend, Melody. There were also times when Ford would come along, but more often than not it was just the three of them.

"I'll drive," Dipper said. "Make everyone feel better?"

Mabel and Ariel stuck their tongues out, Ariel throwing a pillow at him. "I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

Bill looked at himself in the mirror of his hospital room. It had been a month since he'd woken up, and he was finally being released from the hospital. A lot sooner than it should have been, thanks to Ariel. She'd given him this potion that had sped up the process of his physical therapy, allowing him to regain his strength and build muscle memory that had not existed before.

He was still getting used to his face. Pale skin, skinny, delicate, a somewhat-girly face (Ariel and Mabel just called him "cute"), blonde hair that refused to obey anyone, bangs that tended to cover his left eye, big pale blue eyes.

He pulled off his hospital gown, changing into the clothes Dipper had picked out for him- yellow hoodie and black pants. Mabel and Ariel had made the hoodie just for him, which is why the lower half of the shirt had a brick pattern. He blushed, remembering how Dipper had to teach him how to get dressed a couple days ago.

Bill felt pathetic. No, he knew he was pathetic. Weak. Helpless. He deserved to be like this, he didn't deserve the Pines' help, their kindness. Why they were helping such a monster like him was beyond his comprehension. At the same time, he didn't know where he'd be without them and Ariel. Dead, probably. He wished he was dead most of the time. Then all those horrible memories would quit haunting him.

A face appeared in the mirror next to his reflection. She looked like the opposite of Ariel. Where Ariel's hair was pink, hers was purple and vice versa. Unlike Ariel, who wore a pink turtleneck and denim jacket, the woman wore a purple V-neck and her eyes were blue-grey instead of pink. She grinned, a smile so crazy it made "Bipper" look perfectly sane. "Sabina," Bill whispered.

She leaned out of the mirror to cup Bill's face in her hands. "Miss me?" She whispered. "It was lonely after you became human."

"Leave me alone," He said, trying to sound intimidating and failing. "I haven't forgotten what you did."

"What did I do?" she asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Don't."

She grinned again. "Awww, is widdle Billy upset?" Her teeth went from normal and "human" to about two inches long and reminiscent of hypodermic needles as her mouth opened insanely large, like a snakes. Her arms became more like tentacles as they moved to wrap themselves around Bill's frail body. "Maybe I need to fix that."

"Bill? Everything okay?" Dipper asked. The knob was turning. Sabina vanished before Dipper could step inside. "You look like you just saw a ghost. What happened?"

"N-nothing," Bill stuttered.

"Did he pass out or something?" Ariel asked, following Dipper. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, seeing Bill's face.

"I'm fine," Bill lied. "Can we go?"

"No problem," Ariel said. She looked at Dipper. "Mabel's driving, which means she's picking the music."

Dipper groaned. "No, please."

Ariel laughed. "Aww, come on. Her taste in music's not _that_ bad. At least I got her to like Within Temptation, so it's not _all_ bad."

Dipper walked ahead to beg Mabel to let him pick the music, leaving Bill with Ariel. He couldn't help but be tense around the spirit he'd betrayed thousands of years ago, especially after being confronted with her demonic twin not five minutes ago. She looked at him. "Now really, what's up?"

He shook his head. Ariel knew him well enough to know that there was no use trying to get him to talk if he didn't want to, so she left it at that before dragging him down to meet up with Dipper and Mabel, who were waiting for them.


	4. Thoughts and Fears

**Alyssa: We got three reviews this time! Score!**

 **Alec: Yeah. Thanks for reviewing, everyone. StarCre8tion- Gravity Falls seems to have a thing for twins, doesn't it? And we're glad you liked the cover art. Alyssa had a lot of fun making it.**

 **Alyssa: Yep! Guest- thanks so much for your support! We both hope things get better, and we're not gonna stop writing. We did that once. Hated it. Oh yeah! And I've been doing some more drawing that's going to go on Deviantart. We'll post a link when it's up!**

 **Alec: No kidding about the writing. I think Alyssa went even crazier than normal when we did that back in middle school. *Alyssa sticks out tongue at Alec.* LittleAmberAmethyst- I'm glad you like where we're going with this. I hope you enjoy the rest of this. Also, we own nothing.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

"NOOO! You are not touching my hair!" Ariel shouted.

"But you'll look so cool!" Mabel shrieked. Various crashes could be heard.

"DON'T BREAK THE HOUSE!" Stan shouted. "IF YOU DESTROY MY FURNITURE, YOU'RE REPLACING IT!"

Dipper chuckled, shaking his head, not bothering to glance away from his book. "Here we go again," he muttered.

Bill laughed, continuing to draw.. Ariel had given him a sketchbook, and she and Mabel were showing him how to draw.

This happened all the time. Mabel would try to give Ariel some kind of make-over, Ariel would run, sometimes Mabel would catch her, sometimes Ariel would hide for hours until Mabel gave up.

Bill had been staying at the Mystery Shack for about three weeks. It was Sunday, everyone's day off at the Mystery Shack. Right now he was in the room he shared with Dipper. Mabel technically had her own room, although there was a bed in there for when Ariel stayed the night, which was often.

Bill got nervous whenever Ariel stayed over. Whenever Ariel was there, so was Sabina. When Sabina was there at night, she tormented his dreams. He'd be beaten, tortured, abused. He'd end up waking up screaming, which would wake up Pine Tree. Then Pine Tree would come over and help him calm down. He'd be shaking, crying. It was awful, and he hated it more than anything.

So Bill was irritated at Ariel all the time. He'd snap at her for almost nothing, and she'd continue to be nice to him. It made him feel guilty, which made him even more irritated. No one knew about what happened in his nightmares, and he wanted to keep it like that. He could take care of his own problems, right?

A few minutes later, Ariel poked her head into the room. "Hey, Dipper. Stan's letting us throw a Halloween Party at the Mystery Shack this year and Mabel and I are gonna start planning it. Wanna join us?"

"Sure." Dipper stood, stretching. He looked at the person on the other bed. "You coming, Bill?"

He shook his head. "Nah, think I'll stay out of the way."

Dipper shrugged. "If you say so. See you later."

Bill turned back to his drawing, enjoying the peace and quiet, which only lasted a few seconds before Sabina appeared next to him. "You're drawing Pine Tree? You tend to think about him a lot. What's so special about him?"

"Leave me alone," Bill said, trying to push her away- which didn't work, since his hands passed through her. "Don't you have someone else to torment?"

"Nope." She was floating in the air, upside down now. "You're the most interesting meatsack around. Although you used to be a demon, so I don't know if you count as a meatsack, per se."

He glared at her. "Leave me alone. Why are you bothering me now, anyways?"

"Cuz I'm bored. Besides, I wanted to know what you do all day."

"School, usually. And helping out around the Mystery Shack. Why am I telling you this?" he groaned.

"Why aren't you doing either of those right now? Or spending time with those twins you care about so much? They seem to be having a lot of fun planning something with my sister." She hummed, staring into his eyes. "Perhaps you're afraid of messing up, like you always do. Or maybe it's that you're afraid of getting close to them, of hurting them again. Then again, it could also be that you don't want them to have to deal with your pain, your weakness. You're pretty pathetic, aren't you?"

It was true that he still felt that way. He'd hurt the Pines worse than just about anyone except Ariel, and yet they all still trusted him, still wanted to help him. He tended to mess things up all the time- he'd accidentally break something while cleaning the Mystery Shack, he'd trip while walking on flat ground, occasionally forget how do do normal human things like put on a shirt. He was still trying to figure some things out, and loud noises tended to scare him massively- like the vacuum, which he was convinced was trying to kill him.

She leaned in closer, whispering in his ear, "Why don't you just let me end it, hmm? It would help everyone, don't you agree? Or you could end it, too. But it'd more fun if you let me?"

"Why do you hate me so much?" Bill asked, frustrated, trying not to scream at her.

"Because you're unusual, and not in a good way. You're the only creature on the Spirit Plane that had a choice. The only one without a twin that's their polar opposite. You had soooo much more power than you could comprehend, and you lost it all. You're incredibly annoying, and I hate you." She leaned in closer, her teeth like hypodermic needles once more, mouth prepared to bite.

Before she could, Bill heard a loud creaking, ripping noise. The roof was rippped off, although instead of seeing the sky he saw the face of a large troll.


	5. Battle

**Alyssa: Yay! Reviews!**

 **Alec: RepeatingSimplePhrases- wow, you really ship BillDip, don't you?  
**

 **Alyssa: Me too! StarCre8tion- so glad you like it! Aww, don't be jealous!**

 **Alec: We own nothing except our OCs and the story. Sorry the chapter's short, I've had two exams in the past two days. Not fun.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

The troll howled, tossing the roof aside. Sabina vanished.

The troll was huge and smelly. It towered at least 30 feet into the air, with long muscular arms and legs with stump-like feet and clawed, three fingered hands.

It howled again, this time in pain. Bill could hear someone running towards the bedroom door. The door flung open, revealing Dipper. "Bill, look out!" Dipper shouted.

"What?" He barely had time to react before the troll swung it's giant hand- in defense to the attacks Mabel and Ariel were pulling on it down below- and smashed Bill into the wall with a loud crunch. He slumped to the ground, groaning. He hurt EVERYWHERE and it wasn't funny. Except his legs. His legs didn't feel anything.

"BILL!" Dipper shouted, rushing over to the blonde. "Are you okay?"

"Hurts," Bill muttered. "Wha's going on?"

"Grunkle Ford was researching something in the mountains and a troll followed him home," Dipper explained. "And then Grunkle Stan pissed it off."

"Oh." He _really_ didn't want to move.

"GLITTER CANNON!" Mabel shouted.

"OhmgodBill!" Dipper gasped.

"Wha?" He looked down at his body, which was bent at a seemingly impossible angle. "Oh." He closed his eyes.

"This is bad," Dipper said. "This is very bad. I gotta get you to the hospital."

"I wanna help," Bill said, trying to stand before he collapsed.

"You can't really do-" The hand came swinging at them again, which Dipper instinctively called up a force field to protect them from. "That. You're hurt, dammit!"

"OHMYGODOHMYGOD!" Ariel shouted. "Look out, Ford!" Another crash, this one shaking the ground everyone was under.

Dipper picked up Bill."Now how am I going to get you to the hospital... the troll already smashed the car...teleportation? nah." He rubbed his chin. "Hmmm, think I need to take care of the troll fir-"

"Where the hell is that Slayer sword?!" Ariel shouted.

"I think it's under Dipper's bed!" Mabel called back, before slicing into the troll's leg, causing it to stomp it's feet and almost crushing Mabel. She yelped, jumping out of the way.

"Dipper, grab the Slayer sword!" Ford shouted. It's under the bed!"

Dipper set Bill on his bed before diving underneath the bed. He emerged a few moments later, holding a sheathed sword. He then walked to the giant hole the troll had created in the wall and threw the sword. "Catch!"

Mabel caught the sword and unsheathed it, the sword erupting into blue flames. She then launched herself at the troll while Ariel started chanting something, a giant runic circle surrounding the troll and Mabel. Mabel thrust the sword into the troll and the creature vanished in an explosion of petals.

Dipper turned back to Bill. "Okay, lets get you to a hospital. The road's clear."


	6. Day 1: Dive into Heart

**Alyssa: We have 11 followers. 11. That's amazing**

 **Alec: No kidding, although some stories have more.**

 **Alyssa: Don't ruin it for me! Also, thanks a ton StatCre8tion! And, maaaaybe he does.**

 **Alec: *facepalms* Idiot. And we're glad you liked that chapter, RepeatingSimplePhrases.**

 **Alyssa: Hey! *Tackles Alec* Take that back!**

 **Alec: *crawls out from under Alyssa*We don't own Gravity Falls.**

 **Alyssa: *Still trying to attack Alec* Please read and review!**

* * *

Bill passed out a second later. Dipper pressed his face into the bed. "Great, that's even better." He sighed. "MABEL! ARIEL! THINK YOU GUYS COULD HELP ME FIND A WAY TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL?!"

 _Bill was floating in the darkness. He sighed, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Great, here again."_

 ** _Not quite, Little One_**

 _He looked around. "Wait, Ariel?! What are you doing here?! Did you guys defeat the troll?" "Little One" was a nickname Ariel gave him while she was his teacher._

 ** _Troll? Oh, that must have been part of the dream._**

 _"Dream? What are you talking about? I wasn't dreaming, I'd know if I was."_

 ** _Are you sure about that?_**

 _"Of course I am! Why on earth would I be dreaming?"_

 ** _*sigh* You were turned into a human about the age of the younger Pines twins as a result of your defeat during Weirdmageddon. Sabina took advantage of the situation and trapped you in a Dreamworld in an attempt to get you to give her your powers._**

 _"I'd never... wait, she was trying to get me to kill myself."_

 ** _Exactly. If you died, one way or another, she'd get your powers._**

 _"Wow. So, what now?"_

 ** _You wake up_**

 _"How?" As if on cue, tendrils of light emerged from a glowing magic circle that had appeared beneath him. The tendrils climbed higher and higher, encasing Bill in a warm, glowing cocoon. It was pleasant, comforting, similar to the lullaby Ariel would play when he was very young and afraid. It brought a memory of a happy time to the surface of his own frightened mind, a memory he had long since forgotten._

 _Bill - in a more child-like, spirit form- was hiding under a bed, hugging his knees to his chest. "They can't hurt you, they can't hurt you, they can't hurt you," he was muttering to himself._

 _The door opened. Bill gasped, diving in farther under the bed._

 _"Bill?" Ariel called out. "Are you in here?"_

 _Ariel poked her head under the bed. "Thought I'd find you here. Scared of those Onamae?"_

 _He nodded frantically. "What if they try to eat me?"_

 _Ariel pulled him out from under the bed, pulling the child into her lap. "First of all, the Onamae can't get past my barriers. They're even weaker than the demons and THEY can't even get through. And if they DO get in, you're under my protection, so there's no way I'm gonna let them hurt you."_

 _"O-okay." He yawned_

 _She shook her head. "Stayed up late playing with Will, didn't you?" He nodded. "Why don't you go to sleep, then?"  
_

 _"But what if they try to sneak into my dreams and give me nightmares?"_

 _She smiled, starting to sing._

* * *

"Come on, work you stupid spell!" Ariel growled, the dim light of her magic circle glowing a bit brighter.

Dipper and Mabel poked their head into the room. "You haven't taken a real break all month," Mabel said. "Maybe you should get some sleep."

"Spirits don't need rest, at least not the super-powerful ones such as myself," Ariel said. "I can't stop until I get Sabina out of Bill's body."

"They can't hurt anyone like this," Dipper said. "Isn't that good enough?"

"They can't stay asleep forever. Sabina will wake up eventually, and when she does, we're all in danger. She'll stop at nothing to get Bill's power."

"I thought you and Sabina were more powerful than Bill," Dipper pointed out.

"We are. But Bill has a power he doesn't know about, one that would essentially make whoever uses it a God. Sabina will stop at nothing to get that power, since she found out about it after Bill crossed into this world," Alex said. "Which is why it's so important to get her out of him, before she gets his power."

The circle flared, maniacal laughter echoing through the room. _"Do you really think you can do that, sister?"_

"Sister?" Mabel asked.

Ariel nodded. "Yeah. Demons and spirits are siblings. What do you mean, Sabina?"

 _"Like I'll tell you. You know so little about the mind, for someone who knows so much. Did you really think pulling Cipher out of the dream would save him? I have other ways to destroy that little ingrate."_

"His memories," Ariel breathed.

 _"So you can think. Well, catch you on the flip-side!"_ A burst of fire exploded from the circle, but it didn't burn anything.

Ford ran into the room. "What's going on? Is everyone okay?" Everyone nodded.

"What were you and Sabina talking about?" Dipper asked.

Ariel crossed her legs, sitting in the air above Bill. "There are many ways to get power from a mind. The easiest way is to kill them in a dream- like what Sabina was trying to do, but there are other methods. I believe Sabina's next plan will be torment Bill with his own memories."

"What do you need?" Ford asked.

"More chalk. I need to alter this circle to keep Sabina at bay."

"How would Bill's memories torment him?" Mabel asked. "Does he regret something he did?"

"I doubt that," Dipper huffed.

"Actually, he regrets a lot of things," Ariel said, startling everyone. "Perhaps I should explain how things got to the point. After all, you only know part of the story."

* * *

 **Alyssa: hehe, the lullaby will pop up again. Maybe we'll give the lyrics then, maybe not.**

 **Alec: Although Alyssa does sing, and we might post the song online and give you guys a link.**


	7. Day 1: Magic

**Alyssa: Hi guys! Sorry it's taken a while, we were spending the past few days with our boyfriends because they're about to be deployed to Kuwait. But now we're back!**

 **Alec: RepeatingSimplePhrases- an anti-sea bear circle?**

 **Alyssa: StarCre8tion- Thank you! I hope you like my music, when I post it. And I'm sure you can sing.**

 **Alec: We only own our OC's.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

Ariel sighed, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. "Okay, the circle's done."

"What's it going to do?" Ford asked, making a sketch to put in one of his journals later.

"It's going to counter Sabina's spells. It's going to hunt her down, keep her from messing with Bill's memories, and expel her from his mind as soon as the 'replay' is complete," Ariel said, not even opening her eyes.

"How long is that gonna take?" Mabel asked.

"A couple days. At most, a week." She sighed, slightly opening her eyes. "Provided my spell works properly, it should also fix his memories that have already been altered."

"Like what?"

She shrugged. "My appearance, people's personalities, things like that. Little things that make a very big difference," she said, twirling a lock of pale silver hair around a finger.

"Why would she do that?" Ford asked. "How does that help?"

"Because Dreamworlds are not perfect replicas of reality. She had to alter his memories so the world she created was believable." She closed her eyes again. "I really should tell you about Bill Cipher. After all, you only know a small part of the story."

"Sounds like a good idea," Ford said.

"Well, it started long before this planet was born. Demons and Spirits had existed for billions of years before that, and Sabina and I were one of the oldest in existence, from a time when the two actually got along, when they were mere siblings and not polar opposites."

"What changed?" Dipper asked, curious.

"Maybe later. Anyways, both species came into existence at random, without any parents and their only family being their twin of the opposite species. The concept of having a child of one's own was an idea that had been sought after tirelessly by both sides. Finally, I discovered a method that might make that wish a reality."

 _"Come on, Sabina," Ariel begged. "You know you want to raise a child as well. I can't do this alone."_

 _"There's going to be one spirit and one demon, right?" Ariel nodded. "Well then I get the demon."_

 _"That was the plan."_

"Of course, things didn't go as planned. Instead of getting a demon and a spirit, we got two creatures that- although we didn't know this at the time- could switch between demon and spirit."

 _Sabina was furious. "YOU LIED TO ME!" she shrieked, bursting into shadowy flames._

 _"I-I didn't know that would happen!"_

 _Sabina growled. "Whatever. Keep the stupid brats. I didn't really want one, anyways." She stalked out, slamming the door._

 _Ariel looked down at the two boys sleeping on the bed. They were perfectly identical, other than the fact that one had blue eyes and the other had gold- which wasn't visible then "Well, looks like it's up to me to raise you two." She sighed. "What on earth am I going to name you two?"_

 _The boys clutched each other's hands in their sleep. "I know! William and Tobias Iridia."_

"Iridia?" Dipper asked. "But his name's Cipher. And what happened to Tobias? I never met him."

Ariel snorted. "It is now. A lot more has changed than just his name, though."

* * *

 _Bill's memory shifted, showing a time not long after he was created. He and Tobias were sitting in the grass, facing Ariel._

 _She grinned. "Today is when you start learning magic."_

 _The twins cheered, giving each other a high-five. "Woo-hoo!" Bill cheered. "Finally!"_

 _"But before we can do anything, I have to unleash the magic inside of you. It will also mark you as my student."_

 _"Will it hurt?" Tobias asked._

 _"Of course not." She held out a hand gingerly, white flames surrounding it. "You won't feel any pain, I promise."_

* * *

Ariel smiled softly, scarlet eyes melting at the memory of the boys. "They certainly had a skill for learning magic."

"Can people learn magic?" Dipper asked.

"Of course they can, dum-dum," Mabel said. "How else do you think we managed to get into Grunkle Stan's mind?"

"No, I mean magic like what Bill and Ariel can do," Dipper explained.

Ariel nodded. "All demons and spirits have the potential to use true magic, which is what you described. As for humans, some can, some can't. Why, do you want to learn?"

He nodded excitedly. Ariel smiled. "I'd be happy to see if you have the potential. We have the time." Her hand glowed with a white light. She closed her eyes, pressing the glowing hand to Dipper's chest. She smiled. "I think teaching you magic should be possible. I just have to awaken the power inside you."

"How do you do that?" Ford asked, interested.

She shrugged, letting her hand burst into it's white soul flame. "No, I'm not creating a deal with Dipper, if that's what you're thinking," she said. "These flames are useful for more than one thing. It's a minor manifestation of our power, and can be used to awaken the power of another." She held out her hand to Dipper. He shook it


	8. Day 2: Creatures

**Alyssa: Whoa, 19 reviews total?! That's a lot! RepeatingSimplePhrases- is there something special about the name Tobias or was it just unexpected?**

 **Alec: StarCre8tion- Think of the movie "Inception." Should help you get what happened.**

 **Alyssa: LittleAmberAmethyst- *bows, dragging Alec with her* Thank you! Sabina _is_ a nasty character, so we're glad you hate her!**

 **Alec: We both got the flu. At the same time. So we're just now writing this. Sorry for the wait. We only own our OCs an the story.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

Bill's Memories

 _Bill was a lot older now. Having grown up, he'd proven himself to be confident and brave and incredibly headstrong, in addition to being a very playful being. Everyone had lost track of the number of times he'd prank someone in a single month. His brother, on the other hand, was timid and shy and quiet. Tobias spooked easily, and was incredibly submissive. He often needed to be rescued by Bill._

 _Currently, Bill was running through the castle halls. He'd just ticked off one of the guards with his pranks, and was trying to avoid getting himself killed. He dashed into the nearest room he found. It was Areil's study, a place that was majorly off-limits. Before he could do anything about it, the door started to open, causing him to hide under the desk._

 _"Are you sure about this?" That voice belonged to Ariel's advisor, Tad Strange._

 _"Positive," Ariel said. "I've never seen anything like this before, but it make sense."_

 _Tad sighed. "Still, to think that they could possess that much power..."_

 _"They don't, technically. The only way they COULD would be if the two brothers managed to fuse together their souls, their minds, their powers, their... everything, to make a new person."_

 _"Would one side be dominant?" Tad asked, sounding concerned.  
_

 _"Maybe. Knowing the boys, it would probably be William who's in control, although their personalities MIGHT blend. Who knows. Why are we talking about it like it's actually going to happen?"_

* * *

 ** _*Alec: This is a take on something we mentioned earlier in the story.*_**

 ** _*Alyssa: Can you guess what it was?*_**

It was the next day. Ariel had taught him the most basic magic skill- floating. And how to control it. Controlling his floating was going to take some practice (err, staying on the ground, at least). He was currently unable to get any closer than about two inches off the ground. No matter, they were going on a monster hunt!

As Ariel had a Jeep, they were planning to drive as far into the woods as possible, to conserve their energy. They were looking for what could either be a troll or an ogre. Ariel REALLY hoped it was a troll, that would make it easier to outsmart.

They started walking after the road ran out, following the footprints that could fit both Mabel and Dipper comfortably. "What's the difference between a troll and an ogre, anyways?" Mabel asked.

"Shape and intelligence, mainly. Ogres are a lot more disfigured, but they're also a lot smarter and more observant," Ariel explained.

"Oh. Do ogres like to play games?"

"Not really, unless it ends with them eating you." Mabel made a disgusted face and Dipper snickered. He was floating above them both right now. He gasped.

"What's wrong?" Mabel asked.

Dipper gulped, pointing. "Look."

Both girls glanced in the direction of Dipper's finger. Behind the bushes was a huge wolfish monster, body mainly black with ears and tail tinged with red and three heads. It appeared to be devouring a doe- the wolf was several times larger than it's prey.

"Lycante," Ariel whispered. "A demon wolf."

The wolf raised it's nose, sniffing the air. "Don't move," Ariel whispered. "It'll make it harder to smell you."

The monster turned it's head to stare directly at them. It gave a deep, menacing growl. "RUN!" Ariel shouted. "To the car!" They took off barely in time to avoid getting crushed by the wolf that launched itself at them. They barely managed to stay ahead of the creature, running at top speed. Or flying, in Dipper's case.

Ariel threw open the door of her Jeep. "Get in!" she ordered, the twins diving into the car. They dove inside, not even getting a chance to buckle up before Ariel took off down the dirt road, both having to cling on for dear life as Ariel drove like a madwoman. Or a person fleeing a giant monster wolf.

Dipper was clinging to the door of the front passenger seat, giving Ariel directions while Mabel kept an eye on the wolf.

"Leftleftleft! We need to turn left!"

"I hear ya!"

"Ohmygod it's super close!"

"Fox!"

Ariel swerved to avoid hitting the forest creature, sending them off the road. They continued to flee the Lycante, plowing through bushes and around trees. A gnome slammed into the windshield at one point, Ariel catapulting it out of the way with her windshield wipers.

"OHMYGODLOOKOUT!" Dipper shouted. "CLIFF!"

Instead of slamming on the breaks, Ariel just sped up, sending the Jeep flying off the cliff, Dipper and Mabel screaming, Ariel clutching the steering wheel tightly as she stared straight ahead. The Lycante was undeterred by the cliff and leapt into the air after them.

They didn't have a chance to aim very well. The Jeep was about to crash into a massive pine tree. Just their luck.

"Jump!" Ariel shouted once they were over land. They landed on the ground as the car crashed into the three, the wolf doing the same a split second later, knocking the monster unconscious.

Ariel stood, dusting herself up before helping Mabel up. "Let's not do that again," Dipper said. Mabel and Ariel both nodded.

* * *

 _It was night. Bill stepped out to join Ariel on the balcony._

 _"I'm sure you can stop it," Bill said. Over the past few years, relations between spirits and demons were getting worse and worse. Now people were talking about war._

 _Ariel sighed. "I'm not so sure. Sabina's in charge of the demons now, and she's hell-bent on destroying us." She stared at the city below her. "She's already killed so many."_

 _"Can we die?"_

 _Ariel nodded. "It's far more difficult than killing a physical being, as we are pure energy. But we do have weaknesses. We have built weapons that can hurt, even kill each other." She looked at Bill. "Some day I will die. When I do, you and Tobias are going to rule in my place."_

 _"Are you sure that's a good idea?"_

 _"Of course. I whole-heartedly believe you and your brother will rule well."_

* * *

"Woohoo!" Mabel shouted. "Picnic time!" She took off racing down the path.

"Aahhh," Stan sighed, stretching his arms. "Feels good to take a break every once in a while."

"Are you sure leaving our phones behind was a good idea?" Ford asked. He and Ariel tended to act as mediums between the human and supernatural populations, ever since the "world got weird" after Weirdmageddon.

"The world won't blow up if we vanish for a couple hours," Ariel assured him. "We all need the break."

"No kidding," Dipper agreed. "Especially after being chased by a Lycante yesterday."

They stopped next to a large pond deep in the woods, with nothing but trees as far as the eye could see, except for the dirt path they walked there on.

"This looks like a good place for a picnic," Ford commented.

"Can we go swimming?" Mabel asked, excited.

Ariel nodded. "But be careful. There's something about this pond, but I can't remember what it is. Should be fine as long as you respect the pond."

Both kids nodded before running off to change into swimsuits.

Stan snorted. "'Respect the pond?' I've never heard of anything more ridiculous in my life! The pond can't hurt me and I'll prove it!" He waded over to a large boulder in the pond and wrote "Stanley Pines was here" before dropping his pants and... urinating, in the water. He then laughed. "See? No problem!"

The water started to swirl, moving faster and faster, making Stan back out of the water quickly. Ariel snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! It's because it's one of Nacoile's domains!"

The swirling water started to rise above the pond, a young woman with long dark teal hair coming out of it, the water around her becoming small beings made out of water. Dipper and Mabel rushed onto the scene. "What's going on?" Dipper asked.

"Your Grunkle pissed off the chief of the naiads," Ariel explained.

The woman looked at the boulder, wrinkling her nose. "How immature," she said. She looked at the group. "Which of you has desecrated my pond in this way?"

Ariel pointed at Stan. "I'm not allowed to stop her, so I'll make things easier on everyone," she explained.

"Ariel!" Stan and Ford scoffed. She shrugged.

Nacoile narrowed her eyes, looking at Stan. "I would expect much more from someone your age. That is something I would expect of a boy about that child's age," she said, pointing at Dipper. She grinned. "Your mind does not match your body. Perhaps I should change that." She held out her hand, water wrapping around her arm as it formed itself into a ball that she shot at Stan.

"Look out!" Ford shouted, trying to push Stan out of the way. There was a flash of light as the orb impacted. When everyone could see again, the naiad was gone. But that wasn't the only thing that changed


	9. Day 3: First Battle

**Alyssa: Hi everyone! Oh. My. God. The final episode of Gravity Falls. THE FEELS! NOOOO, IT CAN'T END! THEY'RE COMING BACK TO GRAVITY FALLS, WE NEED TO SEE MORE ADVENTURES!**

 **Alec: While we wait for her to calm down, I'll deal with people's reviews.**

 **StarCre8tion- close. You're about to find out exactly what happened.**

 **RepeatingSimplePhrases- We think it's a cool name, too.**

 **Also, no one guessed what the scene in Chapter 8 referenced. There was an incident we mentioned in one of the earlier chapters that is similar to that scene. Any guesses?**

 **We own our OCs and the story. Nothing else.**

 **Alyssa: *finally somewhat calmed down* Please read and review! We have 10 favorites and 11 followers and we know people read this!**

* * *

 _"How does it fit? Is the movement right?"_

 _Bill nodded, stretching and flexing his body parts in his armor. "Feels heavy. I can barely float in all this metal," he complained._

 _Ariel laughed, her laughter beautiful and melodious."It wasn't built to be light. It was built to protect you. After all, we can't have an Astral Blade slicing off your arm or stabbing you in the chest, now can we?"_

 _He nodded. The war between spirits and demons was imminent, and Ariel was preparing the twins by getting them equipped for the upcoming battle. "Well, how do I look, at least?"_

 _"My guess would be that you probably look a lot like me, except in gold instead of blue," Tobias said. He'd gotten a lot less timid over the past few decades, becoming a lot more serious and at times cold. Bill didn't really like it, but at least he didn't usually act like that around him._

 _Bill turned around to look at his brother. He was wearing a tight navy blue high-collar shirt and pants underneath plated armor that protected his torso, triceps, joints, forearms and legs, along with a sky blue cape that fastened at to the armor at his shoulders._

 _"Now for the final part," Ariel said. "Your swords." She walked over to a chest, pulling out two identical sheathed swords. She handed one to each boy._

 _Bill unsheathed his sword, revealing a two-edged blade made from a beautiful glowing golden metal- Astral- that was marked with several symbols along the edge. "What are these symbols for?"_

 _"They prevent you from accidentally hurting yourself or one of your own with the blade," Ariel said. "Wouldn't want you to hurt each other while practicing, now would we?"_

* * *

"Look out!" Ford shouted, trying to push Stan out of the way. There was a flash of light as the orb impacted. When everyone could see again, the naiad was gone. But that wasn't the only thing that changed.

The twin Grunkles were hidden in a cloud of fog. "Ford!" Stan coughed. "Ford, where are you?"

The fog started to clear. They heard a small cry. "Ford!" Stan called, the others joining in as the fog cleared completely, revealing Stan standing a few feet away from a toddler. He couldn't be more than two years or so old, barely able to walk and say a few words. The child looked terrified.

"F-Ford?" Stan asked cautiously. The child's eyes got even bigger.

"Looks like the spell hit him instead of you," Ariel noted.

"No ah be dis ay," Ford said. "ha ig!" He seemed startled by what he said. "No tah ood."

Ariel knelt down to pick the child up. "et dom!" he protested, trying to struggle out of her grasp.

Ariel looked at the others. "Let's get back to the Shack and we'll figure things out."

Mabel was in charge of keeping the now near-infant Ford busy while Dipper, Stan and Ariel talked things over.

"What do we do?" Ford asked. "Is there some way to fix this?"

Ariel paused. "Possibly. I need to check."

"How long would that take?" Dipper asked. "Can I help?"

"A couple hours, maybe. I have a book of rarely-used spells that might help. You can help by keeping an eye on your Grunkle with your sister."

"And keep him out of the way!" Stan ordered. "I'm planning on doing tours while we're waiting!"

"Awww, man," Dipper groaned, trudging into the living room to help Mabel.

* * *

 _The battlefield was chaos. Both sides were **technically** evenly matched, and while it would often be one-on-one, sometimes large groups of demons would attack a single spirit, killing them quickly. _

_That's not to say it was completely hopeless, either. Bill and Tobias were fighting back-to-back, taking on the demon horde that surrounded them, Tobias with a serious determination, Bill with an insane glee._

 _Suddenly, a massive demon gained the upper hand against Tobias, stabbing the boy in the stomach._

 _"TOBIAS!" Bill shouted, seeing his brother collapse. The demon was moving in for the kill._

 _Bill moved to protect his brother, killing the demon that had dared to harm him, blood-lust glinting in his eyes- which now glowed red.  
_

 _After teleporting his brother he returned to the battlefield, intent on killing every demon he came across. He was unstoppable, until he came across the queen of the demons- Sabina._

 _She stared him down, gold eyes regarding him with cold, haughty interest. "So, you're the little brat that's been killing off my men," she said._

 _"Maybe I am." He grinned. "I'm still gonna kill you."_

 _She snorted. "We'll see."_

 _The battle was intense. Sabina blocked each of his blows effortlessly, Bill struggling to avoid being hit by her massive scythe. She stabbed him in his left eye with the tip of her blade. He howled with pain, covering his eye with one hand as he tried to fend her off. She slashed his legs, then his stomach. He collapsed, fearing the end. Before she could attack, there was a flash of white as Ariel dashed in front of him, massive wings flared to protect her son._

 _The fight between the twin girls was even more intense. Each woman could mirror the other perfectly, until Ariel's blade thrust itself below Sabina's ribs. Ariel pulled the sword out, Sabina staggering back. "We'll finish this later," Sabina snarled. "Fall back!" she shouted to her army._

* * *

Ariel was startled out of her research by the sound of a loud wail coming from the living room.

She walked into the room to find Dipper picking up a very upset Ford. "What happened?" she asked. "Is everyone okay?"

Dipper nodded. "Yeah, but he, uh-" he gestured at a wet spot that covered most of Ford's bottom. Ariel also noticed a small wet spot on the carpet.

"No ah go pahee!" Ford shouted

"Give him to me," Ariel commanded. Dipper obeyed, relieved.

Ariel laid him on his back, pulling down his pants to reveal the soaked diaper. She snapped her fingers, the wet diaper replaced with a new one, the soiled item ending up in the trash.

"Wow," Dipper breathed. "That was cool! When can I learn to do that?" He asked, at the moment trying not to bump into the ceiling. He had been trying to float above her but ended up going a bit too high.

She laughed. "First you need to master floating, Dipper."

Ford started to wail again. "What's wrong this time?" Mabel shouted, covering her ears.

"Huneey!"

Ariel sighed. She snapped her fingers again, this time a bottle appearing in her hand. She gave it to Ford, who quieted instantly.

"How much longer is this going to last?" Dipper asked.

Ariel shrugged. "Not much more, actually. I found a potion that can be used to make a person older. But it only works in increments, and I can't use it more than three times on a person in their lifetime and no more than once a day, so I won't be able to return him to his true age, but at least make things easier for everyone. "

"Sweet!" Mabel said. "What do we do?" She glanced at their little grunkle, who'd fallen asleep.

Ariel winked. "Nothing. I put the potion in the bottle. He'll be getting a bit older in three...two...one..."


	10. Day 3: Love

**Alec: Being sick sucked big time yesterday.**

 **Alyssa: I know, right? Puffoleah- Glad you like it! Hope to hear what you think about the other chapters!**

 **Alec: Yeah. Mystery- glad you think it's interesting. Also, it's nice to hear from someone new.**

 **Alyssa: We like to hear what everyone thinks! RepeatingSimplePhrases: Yep! But just for that chapter.**

 **Alec: We don't own Gravity Falls.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

 _Bill stomped through the forest near camp, grumbling about how he could still fight, how unfair Ariel was, how unfair the world was. It had been a few days since the first battle and although Bill's injuries had mostly healed, he was forever blind in his left eye. So for the time being, Ariel was keeping Bill away from the battlefront and instead putting him on patrol duty. Tobias, on the other hand, was still allowed to fight, which pissed Bill off to no end._

 _To add insult to injury Tobias- whom Bill had spent the battle avenging for his injuries- was in a strategy meeting with Ariel and her seven generals. Apparently Tobias "showed promise on the battlefield."_

 _"Stupid," Bill muttered. "I show more more 'promise' than Tobias. Stupid eye, stupid Ariel, stupid, stupid, STUPID!" He slammed his fist into a tree so hard it shook. It knocked something down from one of the branches. Scratch that, a demon._

 _Bill edged closer to the demon, sword drawn. He was quite attractive, really, with long brown hair and such gorgeous, soft features. Even his black horns and wings and claws didn't detract from his sex appeal, making him appear even more sexy and mysterious._

 _The demon was unconscious, and it was obvious that he was injured. His right arm was barely attached to the rest of his body by a small cluster of muscle fibers, his chest slashed. He probably wouldn't live much longer._

 _Bill knew what he should do- kill the monster. Or at least just leave him there to die. But- unlike his brother- he hated the idea of death, excluding his outburst on the battlefield._

 _What was he supposed to do?_

* * *

"Three...two...one..." Right on cue, there was a flash of light. When the glow faded, Ford was still asleep but now preschool aged. Ariel placed the slightly-older (but still younger than he should be) boy on the couch, Ford unconsciously snuggling with one of the couch cushions in his sleep.

"Aww!" Mabel cooed. "He's sooo cute!"

"Don't wake him up!" Dipper hissed.

"I know, I know," Mabel assured him, batting her twin away. "You know what? I'm gonna make him a sweater!"

"He's only gonna be that big for another day or so," Dipper said. "What's the point?"

"Well, it's fun, for one thing. And I'll make him another sweater tomorrow!"

Dipper sighed, walking out of the room to check on Bill. The demon-turned-human still hadn't woken up yet, and he was fast asleep in the spare room, the way he'd been ever since they defeated him almost nine months ago. Although Ariel had been the one keeping an eye on him- she had been keeping him in her home (a floating castle above Gravity Falls that appeared after Weirdmageddon)- she'd dragged him back to the Mystery Shack after Sabina tried to possess him. She failed the first time, but she succeeded about a month ago, attacking everyone in the Shack while trapping Bill in a Dreamworld. Ariel managed to knock them out- with the help of Ford and Dipper- but it turned out to be a temporary fix.

He'd had plenty of chances to see Bill's human body- he ended up in Ariel's castle rather frequently- but he still found it fascinating. Maybe because Bill was now an ordinary teenage boy like any other- excluding his past. He had messy blonde hair and one-golden-one-blue eyes that tended to stare at everything- although he appeared to be blind in his left eye. At least when Sabina was possessing him a third eye appeared on his forehead, and it glowed blue. His skin had a gorgeous tan, and he was very well toned-

Wait a second. Why on earth was he thinking that Bill was attractive? Stupid teenage hormones. And he hadn't even been an official teen for a whole year. He sighed, stepping back into the living room where Ariel and Mabel were.

* * *

 _Bill snuck into the shack in the woods, being careful that he wasn't followed. Against his better judgement he'd decided to help the demon. He just wouldn't be able to live with himself if he let the demon die, especially as helpless as the creature was at the time. Of course, he couldn't tell anyone if he didn't want to be labeled as a traitor. Although they'd probably think it was the demon's Allure that made him do it. Then they'd kill the demon and never ever let Bill anywhere near a demon._

 _At least Ariel put him in charge of the medics. Being able to heal was one of his specialties- he'd invented a method of using it on the new race that called themselves "humans"- and it made him feel a lot more useful. But it did hurt, the way Tobias looked at him. Like he was pathetic. Like he pitied him._

 _Bill was startled to see that the demon was awake. He was staring out the window when Bill entered the shack he hid the incubus in. The demon looked up, surprised._

 _"A Spirit, rescue me? How cute," the incubus said. His eyes narrowed. "And their prince, no less. What do you want from me?'_

 _"N-nothing," Bill stammered, nervous. He was the weaker twin and he knew it. He bet the demon could probably kill him if he wanted to._

 _The demon glanced coldly at what he was wearing. "I though both princes were warriors," he snorted. "Why on earth are you wearing a medic's uniform?"_

 _"I'm better at healing than fighting, actually," Bill admitted, embarrassed._

 _The demon laughed. "Seriously? You're William, aren't you?" Bill nodded. "I heard about what you did on the battlefield. If you're telling the truth, then your healing must be_ _extraordinary."_

 _"Thank you," Bill whispered, the compliment completely unexpected._

 _The incubus smiled. "Well, I might as well be civil to my savior. My name's Jared, by the way."_

* * *

Ford looked up as Dipper walked into the room. While he'd been happy not to be an infant when he woke up, being a preschooler was still frustrating.

"Dippuh!" He exclaimed. While he could talk a bit better, not being able to pronounce things properly still frustrated him to no end.

"Hey, Grunkle Ford," Dipper said, flopping onto the couch.

Mabel giggled. "It's kinda funny calling him Grunkle when he's so little." Ford pouted at that statement. It wasn't entirely his fault he was like this.

Ariel laughed. "You have a point there. Although he's not gonna be younger than you for too long."

"You said you could only use the potion three times," Dipper pointed out. Potion? Was that how he got older? "So how old is he going to be in the end?"

Ariel shrugged. "Hard to say for certain, but I'd say about my physical age."

Ford blinked at this. They were going to be the same age? Over the past nine months he'd spent a lot of time with Ariel. She'd proven herself to be intelligent, observant, kind, an amazing diplomat... the list went on and on. He lost count of the times she'd saved either him or the twins, and the times she'd comforted him when he was tormented about the things he'd done in the past.

He knew he had a crush on her. A major one, actually. What held him back was his social awkwardness... and the age difference. Not the fact that she was several billion years old, but the fact that she looked like she was in her late teens, early twenties at the most, while he was almost seventy.

Maybe he'd have a chance after all this. Maybe.


	11. Day 4: Pain

**Alyssa: Hi guys! We're back! And posting this at 1 am!**

 **Alec: Yeah. StarCre8tion- It's going to make things very interesting.**

 **Alyssa: RepeatingSimplePhrases- you always have the oddest things to say! But, no.**

 **Alec: We don't own Gravity Falls.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

 _"You're not healing very fast," Bill noted as he changed Jared's bandages. It had been two months since Bill had found the demon and he had barely healed, if at all._

 _The incubus shrugged. "I get most of my life force from sexual energy, which I haven't obtained lately."_

 _Bill blushed, but blamed it on the demon's Allure. Still, he did feel at least some attraction to the demon. He was the only one who paid much attention to Bill as of late, although that could be because Jared didn't have anyone else to talk to. Still, he was attentive and funny and handsome and good at advice and actually seemed interested in what Bill had to say. Needless to say, they got along pretty well._

 _"Maybe I could help with that," Bill suggested, squirming a bit._

 _Jared leaned in close, smiling softly as he brushed a lock of hair out of Bill's face. "Then why don't we do that?" He said, voice low and seductive, nearly paralyzing Bill as Jared's lips pressed themselves against the young spirit's. The kiss became more passionate every second, Jared's tongue pressing against Bill's lips, seeking entrance. Bill granted it, their tongues entangling as Jared's hand ran all over Bill's body, memorizing every inch of his lithe frame._

 _They didn't need to breathe, being beings without an actual body, but they did break the kiss eventually. Bill looked at the stump that used to be Jared's right arm. "It- it healed," Bill stammered._

 _"That it did," Jared commented coolly. He looked at Bill, blushing. "I, I guess I'd better get back to the demon camp."_

 _"Y-yeah."_

 _Jared stood, walking to the door. He looked back at Bill. "I'll see you around, okay?"_

 _It was another couple of days before Bill saw Jared again, and was reminded that they were on opposite sides. They were in the midst of another major battle. Bill was running around the medical area, helping tend to the wounded._

 _One of the patients was sitting in his bed, watching the battle unfold. He shook his head. "Some idiot challenged your brother. Man, he's gonna get himself killed."_

 _Bill looked up at his brother, gasping when he saw the person he was about to fight._

 _Jared._

* * *

Ford was more than ready to take the "growth potion" with breakfast that morning. Ariel suggested he ate first, before pouring the contents of a white packet into a glass of water, turning the liquid a light blue. He drank it quickly, not bothering to stop until it was done.

He set down the glass. His body felt strangely warm, and his eyes felt incredibly heavy. He closed his eyes, not even noticing that he was surrounded by a bright light.

When he opened his eyes, he was on the couch. Mabel appeared to be knitting another sweater and Ariel and Dipper were discussing something. Seeing as everyone was busy, Ford decided to take a shower.

He realized that he was still a lot smaller than he used to, but not quite as small as he had been before. He decided to deal with his size later, instead choosing to focus on the wonderful feeling of hot water hitting his skin.

Feeling refreshed, he stepped out of the shower, looking at himself in the mirror as he dried himself off. He still looked about the same age as Dipper and Mabel. His wavy hair seemed to be straighter than he remembered, and messier.

He sighed, getting dressed. When he stepped out, the three in the living room seemed to be waiting for him.

"We're going to the mall," Mabel said.

"Okay," Ford mumbled, preparing to head down to the basement.

"You're coming with us," Ariel said.

Which is why he found himself at the mall an hour later, walking with Dipper and trailing behind Ariel and Mabel. He knew Mabel was into clothes and shopping, but Ariel? That was news to him.

Dipper was going to look for a notebook to record his own observations in, and Ariel was going to help Mabel look for a belt they could modify to be a weapons/ utility belt. She figured it would be useful to have one on their monster hunts.

Ford didn't know who to go with. He wanted to stick with Ariel, obviously, but wouldn't that be awkward? So, Dipper then. By the time he reached this conclusion he looked around to realize he was alone.

Panicked, he looked around, trying to find someone, anyone he knew. He started to run, looking around frantically. He bumped into someone, knocking them down. It was a boy maybe a year or two older than his physical age, flanked by two other boys.

"Watch where you're going!" the leader snarled. He had light brown hair and looked like a typical jock.

"Sorry," Ford apologized meekly, their much larger size making him nervous already.

The boys grinned. "Sorry's not good enough, twerp. You could have hurt me, so you need to make it up to me."

Five minutes later Ford was behind the mall, surrounded by the three guys, the lackeys holding him down while the leader pulled off Ford's clothes. "Hmmm," the brunette hummed, looking at Ford's naked body. "You're pretty cute." He leaned in close. "I wonder if I can make you scream."

 _ **~M-rated stuff here. You can skip if you want~**_

Ford's eyes widened in fear, the boys tying him up so he couldn't resist them. First the boy started by pulling out a knife. Grinning, he slowly dragged the blade down Ford's side, licking up the blood that started to trickle out. The boy dropped the knife, choosing to bite and suck all over Ford's abdomen, watching Ford writhe in an agonizing mixture of pain and pleasure. He chuckled, commenting as he fingered Ford's member, "You're hard already? We're just getting started."

He glanced at his lackeys. "Flip him over." They obeyed, so now Ford had his chest pressed to the wall, head tilted to the side. The wicked, evil grin on the jock's face had Ford even more terrified than before. Without any warning, a finger was thrust into him with zero lubricant, causing Ford to scream in pain and moan with the intense pleasure. He wiggled the finger around inside Ford, enjoying the sight of the not-teen squirming. He shoved another finger inside, listening to Ford scream even louder.

"Oh-ho-ho, just you wait," the jock purred, before shoving his member into Ford.

Ford screamed, bucking as he tried desperately to get the -physically- older boy off him. The boy laughed and begun thrusting as quickly and hard as possible. Going faster and faster, harder and harder, blood streaming down Ford's legs, tears streaming down his cheeks as he begged for it all to end.

Just when he thought he couldn't take any more, something shoved the jock away.

 **~ _End of M-rated stuff~_**

"Close your eyes for a bit," a voice whispered. Ford obeyed, squeezing his eyes shut tight as he could, trying to ignore the whimpering and screams he heard so close to him.

The noise died down. "You can open them now." His hands were freed and he collapsed into a pair of slender- but strong- arms, shaking and sobbing.

It was Ariel holding him. "It's going to be okay, you're safe now," Ariel whispered. "I'm never going to let anyone hurt you ever again."

* * *

 _Bill watched the fight, fear and worry etched on his face. He didn't want Tobias to win- that would hurt Jared, but he didn't want Jared to win either- that would hurt his brother. At the moment, it was hard to tell who would win the fight, really._

 _It was getting close. Jared was on his back, pinned to the ground as Tobias raised his sword high, preparing to land the final blow-_

 _When a massive vortex appeared in the sky, sucking up all the demons._

 _Bill later learned that at that moment, Ariel had completed a spell that would trap all the demons in the 2nd dimension, ending the battle between demons and spirits forever._

 _Jared was gone. But Bill was going to get him back._

* * *

Ford was laying on the couch, watching Dipper's magic lesson. He had refused to let it look like anything was wrong with him, even though he couldn't stand, refusing to show any signs of weakness.

Dipper was learning how to summon objects. Namely, a can of Pitt Cola that was in the fridge.

"Picture the can," Ariel instructed. "Imagine it, remember exactly where it is."

"Okay."

"Now, imagine it in your hand." The air shimmered as the soda appeared in Dipper's hand, his hand closing around the cold item.

"I did it!" Dipper shouted.

Ariel laughed. "That's just basic summoning. There's also summoning items when you don't know where they are or even what they look like, and summoning living things. Living things are super complicated cuz they're easy to kill, unless it's a sylph like me."

"What's a sylph?" Dipper asked.

"A wind spirit. Our true form is literally wind, or I guess clouds. But this form is cooler cuz we have wings."

"Can I see your wings?" Mabel asked, excited. Ariel shrugged, unfurling a pair of massive pure white wings. Mabel squealed. "So cool!"

"Was Bill a sylph?" Dipper asked. "I mean, he was your son and all."

Ariel nodded. "Syph are the true masters of dreams. It's why Bill became what he was when he became a demon."

* * *

 **Alex: Umm, yeah. That was our first time writing a rape scene, so uhh, constructive criticism would be appreciated.**

 **Alyssa: We don't really know where that came from, it just seemed to... work.**


	12. Day 5: Untouched

**Alyssa: Wow, looks like we did a good job last time!**

 **Alec: StarCre8tion- So, umm, was it scarring or awful? I'm guessing the former.**

 **Alyssa: RepeatingSimplePhrases- He's an incubus. Of course he's a perv! Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.**

 **Alec: Our writing playlist for this chapter: Good Girls Go Bad- Cobra Starship, Clowns (Can You See Me Now?)- Tatu, Untouched- The Veronicas. We tend to write to music, but this one was unique in the sense that all scenes except the first one have a special song for them. We don't own Gravity Falls or any of the songs I just mentioned.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

 _Bill sighed, rubbing the eye that was now hidden under an eye-patch. He'd been working on this "project" of his for what, ten years now? And still he was only slightly closer than when he started. Only slightly closer to seeing Jared again._

 _So far he knew that it would be impossible for anyone on the "Other Side"- as everyone on earth was calling the demons' prison- to force their way through. The only way would be if someone on his side helped them get through, likely through some form of summoning._

 _But how? The barrier between dimensions was far to great to be broken through via normal summoning. Bill had spent ages trying to figure out how to break through._

 _That's when it hit him. He face-palmed. How could he have been so stupid? As a sylph, the solution should have been obvious! The mind was the key. Or, more accurately, dreams._

 _Dreams could transcend dimensional barriers, Bill knew that as much as every sylph did. Well, at least in theory they could. No one had really tried entering the dreams of someone from another dimension before._

 _His mind working at an incredible speed, Bill began his specialty- designing a new magic. More accurately, a new magic-related realm. After all, normal methods of dream-entering would be useless. He would need a way for someone on the Other Side to enter_ his _dreams for this to be possible, not the other way around. And this would require another realm-type platform for them to exist and communicate together, despite dimensional boundaries._

 _He decided to call this new place the Mindscape._

* * *

Ariel sighed, sitting on the floor next to the couch Ford was sleeping on. She sighed, mentally checking the time. Two am. As powerful as she was, she should probably get to sleep, she noted, yawning. After all, Ford was doing better. At least physically, the potion that had made him older also healing his body.

She gave a low growl, remembering what had happened only a few hours ago. Those jerks had tried to take advantage of Ford, someone she'd promised herself she'd protect. And they would have succeeded, too, if she'd only been a few minutes later.

She grinned. No one in the house would be awake for hours. Perhaps it was time she punished those infuriating mortals for what they'd done. All she'd really done that afternoon was throw a few punches, not wanting to scare Ford any further. Now it was time to get serious.

Dealing with the two supporters was easy. A bit of ice, some blinding light, a couple death threats and they were begging for mercy. But the leader, well, she was going to do something she didn't do often.

 _ **~ More M-rated stuff! Dark Ariel, here we come! There is more rape, but in retribution for the last chapter~**_

The teen was smoking when she walked up, using magic to change her appearance. She looked a bit younger than she usually did, her white hair now platinum blonde curls, her scarlet eyes now a mesmerizing blue, her normal adventuring ensemble abandoned in favor of a white sundress and sandals. She walked up to the boy, looking innocent and shy.

"Umm, excuse me," she whispered, catching his attention. "I was with my friends, but I can't seem to find them. Could you help me, please?"

He grinned, a hungry look on his face. "I have a better idea. Why don't you come to my place? I'd love to spend time with you."

"I don't know... my friends are probably worried."

He leaned in close. "I'll take good care of you if you come with me. We can find your friends in the morning."

"Okay... my name's Syreena," she said, using a fake name. What she was about to do, it would be dangerous if he knew her true name. Or even her common name, Ariel.

He grinned. "Aeron. Now come on."

Ariel was sitting on his couch while he was "getting things ready." He walked in shirtless. Ariel noted his very muscular body, but wasn't that impressed, honestly. "Let's go up to my room," he said, trying to sound seductive. It would have worked on a mortal, but not her.

She followed him upstairs, taking off her dress slowly in a sensual way that was already driving him wild. He couldn't resist throwing her onto the bed as soon as she was done, releasing a frenzied period of bites and kisses. "Is this what you did to the boy you tried to rape earlier today?" she asked during a pause. "Or maybe you were rougher?"

He looked at her in shock. "How did you-?"

She snorted, shifting her weight to pin him down. "Did you really think you'd get a girl that easily?" she hissed in his ear. "I know what you did-" she paused, reading her memories. "Everything you've done," she spat, disgusted with what she saw. "I'm here to make you pay for everything you've done." She unfurled her wings, revealing her true form, snapping her fingers as ropes appeared to bind him to the bedposts.

"Let me go!" he shouted, struggling against the ropes. She grabbed a wrist and bent it backwards until it gave a satisfying _snap!,_ getting an earsplitting-scream out of the boy below her.

She shushed him, literally zipping his lips shut. "Now, now, I was just about to have fun with you," she murmured, nibbling on his ear. "It's too soon to stop, too late to back out now. After all, you invited me in your house." She chuckled. "First rule of dealing with the supernatural, if you let them in, it's nearly impossible to make them leave," she hissed, biting his member- hard, his muffled screams making her laugh.

She started licking his abdomen, leaving small nibbles all over in the process, releasing his mouth to allow her to savor the sounds of his moans, enjoying feeling him thrash underneath her. She opted for simply soundproofing the room.

She continued nibbling and licking until she got bored, switching to light brushes and caresses in all his most sensitive areas, occasionally shoving her tongue into his mouth. She grinned at him. "What? Isn't this what you wanted?"

She snapped her fingers again, summoning a nine-tailed whip, switching between whips and gentle caresses with her wings. An hour had already passed by the time she glanced at his panting body and said, "You're ready."

"R-ready f-for wha-what?" Michael whispered, terrified of the woman dominating him.

"Your true punishment. This was just the warm-up." She made a flipping motion with her hand and the teen was on his stomach. She whistled, a redhead appearing next to her. "Sorren, sweetie, this boy's been naughty," she hummed. "I need you to help me teach him a lesson."

Sorren tilted his head, questioning. Ariel nodded. The redhead mounted Michael and shoved his cock into Michael's ass, eliciting another scream. Sorren continued to thrust into Aeron, eliciting a wide range of sounds, from screams to moans to mews that Ariel thought were just cute.

The thrusting continued seemingly endlessly. Aeron wanted it to stop, wanted the pain to go away, tears streaming down his face as blood seeped into the bed.

Then, suddenly, it stopped. Aeron laid there, panting, still tied to the bed. "Is he done?" Sorren nodded, vanishing. Ariel snapped her fingers, the ropes vanishing.

Aeron didn't move. He just laid there, too weak to get up. "You'll... pay," he whispered.

Ariel shrugged. "No I won't. After all, everyone knows I'm not a lesbian. I'll also erase all evidence of what happened here from your body, so it'll be your word against mine. Guess who'll win."

"What?" Ariel raised her hand into the air, pulling Aeron into a sitting position. He had a confused expression, realizing a certain body part was missing.

She rolled her eyes. "Look down."

He obeyed, releasing a girly shriek. Then again, it now matched his gender. Hourglass figure, delicate limbs, large breasts- a body most girls would _kill for._ "What- what did you do to me?" he asked, starting to hyperventilate.

She shrugged. "Me? Nothing. See, there's an interesting thing about my friend Sorren. When he has with a human he ends up stealing their masculinity. So any guy he fucks, becomes a woman." She leveled her gaze, staring Aeron in the eye. "Although I did cast a bit of a spell on you. You will live a life as an absolutely helpless female, with the bonus of being irresistible to almost every man who sees you. As defenseless as you are now, they will fuck you regardless of if you want it or not, you being too weak to stop them."

"Change me back!" Aeron shouted.

Ariel shrugged. "Can't. At least, I can't undo Sorren's magic. As for my spell, the cure is simple, if a bit cheesy. True love." She then turned and walked out the door.

* * *

 _Bill grinned, lighting the candles with his magic. The Mindscape was complete, now it was time to pull himself and Jared into it._

 _He knelt on the ground, placing his hands on the circle he'd drawn with chalk._

 _"Triangulum, entangulum. Meteforis dominus ventium. Meteforis venetisarium! E_ _gassem sdrawkcab! E_ _gassem sdrawkcab! E_ _gassem sdrawkcab! E_ _gassem sdrawkcab! E_ _gassem sdrawkcab!"_

 _There was a flash of light and the world around him went grayscale. Floating in the circle was Jared. He looked around, confused. "Where am I?" He noticed the sylph sitting in front of him. "William?"_

 _"Jared!" Bill shouted, tackling the incubus._

 _"Will!" Jared laughed, hugging the spirit. "I've missed you so much!" He snapped back to where he was. "Where are we, exactly? How did we get here?"_

 _"We're in a place I created called the Mindscape. I brought us here. It can bridge realms."_

 _"Seriously? You sure are a genius," Jared teased. "Did you- did you do this for me?"_

 _Bill nodded. "Of course. I love you."_

 _"I love you too."_

* * *

Ford had been a teenager since he'd woken up and his crush on Ariel had been even harder to ignore. He wanted to hold her close, run his fingers through her hair, throw her onto the bed and-

Nononononono! He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. He was distracted by Dipper and Mabel rushing into the room.

"Hey Ford, come on, get ready!" Mabel shouted. "You're not even dressed yet!"

"Dressed for what?"

"Duh! The festival!"

"What?!" Ford remembered what they were talking about. The town of Gravity Falls had decided to throw a festival every year in celebration of Bill's defeat. Technically they should have celebrated it in September- when they actually defeated Bill- but they opted for summer instead because of the twins and summer being when it all started. Besides, what did three months matter, anyways?

He pulled on shorts and a T-shirt before walking into the living room where everyone was waiting. Dipper was dressed as normal, but Mabel and Ariel were dressed up. Mabel had opted for a pink sundress with a shooting star symbol on it, while Ariel had swapped her jeans and T-shirt-hooded-cropped-jacked combo for denim short shorts and a slightly cropped light blue and white cami.

"Ready?" Ford nodded. "Let's go!"

They split into groups- Mabel went with Pacifica (whom she'd become close friends with), Dipper with a friend of his named Zach (who happened to be a fire spirit), and Ford with Ariel.

Ariel had mentioned some things about spirit culture to Mayor Cutebiker and with spirits making up 45% of Gravity Falls' new population, he was more than happy to bring in some of their traditions to the "Freedom Festival." Like couple's boats on the lake at night- and fireworks (that Mabel helped plan), and placing wishes into a lantern and releasing them into the sky- also at night.

Ariel sighed, looking up at the sky. It was evening, and she was in one of the boats with Ford. Ford had been going crazy all day, feeling his face get flushed every time his skin brushed against hers, getting flustered every time she caught him staring at her.

She held out a lantern. "Come on, put a wish inside of it," she urged.

 _I wish I had the courage to tell Ariel how I feel,_ Ford thought, placing a slip of paper inside the lantern. They both stood up to release the lanterns, a wave rocking the boat moments later, knocking them both over.

They both fell back into the boat, Ford on top of Ariel. Before he knew it, his lips were pressing themselves against hers.


	13. Day 5: Revelations

**Alec: Okay, okay. We're done with rape scenes. Although, there is a character death in this chapter. Or two. Anyways, they're in Bill's memories. Also, this is our longest chapter yet. Since there's only one "day" before Bill wakes up, we needed to get in more of Bill's past before we reach the end. So the next one also might be a bit long.  
**

 **Alyssa: RepeatingSimplePhrases- that would be cool. But, sadly, impossible, due to events in this chapter.**

 **Alec: All the scenes for Bill's memories were written to "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" by Set it Off. The Ford/Ariel scene was written to"Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak , and the Mabel/Paz scene was written to "Gravity" by Against the Current. We don't own Gravity Falls, promise.  
**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

 _Decades passed quickly. Bill went to the Mindscape to visit Jared almost every day, and they were still very much in love._

 _But there was one small problem- Bill's family. They still didn't know about Jared, but Bill couldn't be gone for very long before_ someone _would need him for_ something. _But what was truly infuriating was that every time he was in the Mindscape to be with Jared, either Tobias or Ariel would burst into the room and panic at seeing Bill unconscious. They were getting increasingly worried about him, even going so far as to have healers examine him for some form of illness or curse, even suggesting keeping someone at Bill's side at all times for his protection. A suggestion Bill politely declined. Thankfully, he'd cast a spell to make all evidence of his ceremony to enter the Mindscape vanish as soon as he entered it, so no one had a clue what was going on._

 _Quickly checking to make sure he was alone, Bill performed the ritual to pull himself into the Mindscape, not noticing that he was secretly being watched._

 _Bill exited the Mindscape a few hours later, waking up in his bed. As usual. He spotted Tobias in the chair in his room, watching him as he slept. He groaned inwardly, expecting another long-winded rant about how he needs to help them figure out what's wrong with him, needs to be careful, etc. Tobias had changed a lot over the past few years. He'd become cryptic, cynical, overprotective, and all-around just a dark and angry person. It scared Bill sometimes._

 _"So, where'd you go?" Tobias asked, his face knowing, determined, confrontational. And more than slightly pissed. Bill suspected he wasn't going to get out of this one easily, but he had to try._

 _"What do you mean?" Bill asked.  
_

 _"You were chanting a spell before you passed out, something about getting rid of the barriers of the mind? Your mind went somewhere, didn't it. Where did you go?" Tobias asked, getting very, very close to Bill._

 _"I- I don't know what you're talking about," Bill stammered._

 _Tobias smirked. "First of all,_ I saw you do it. _Second of all, haven't you forgotten it's impossible to lie to your own twin?"_

 _"Fine, I'll tell you, okay! It's this place I created called the Mindscape. It's peaceful, quiet. I like going there to think."_

 _Tobias raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced. "And you like it so much that you're going there every chance you get? I know you don't hate things in reality_ that _much." He frowned, thinking. "You know, you've been so determined to figure something out, ever since the war against the demons. Then you stopped working so hard on whatever spell it was, and you started passing out all the time. Guess that's when you started visiting the Mindscape, huh? Bet that spell was to create the Mindscape, and let you enter it. But why were you so determined to create that place?" Then it dawned on him._

 _His entire demeanor changed. He smirked, laying on Bill with his eyes closed. "You know, I fought a demon during that last battle who said something strange. Wanna know what he said?" Bill chose not to answer. "He said, 'You're nothing like your brother, the other sylph.' Now, everyone knows about us, what we look like. But how on earth would a_ demon _know about your personality, how different you are from me? Makes me wonder if you know the guy. Maybe, him being an incubus, the demon put a spell on you. Made you fall in love with him. Made you fall so hard for him that you'd do_ anything _to see him."_

 _"Aww come on," Bill said, trying to keep his twin from the truth. "Why on earth would I go anywhere near a demon?"  
_

 _"There was that time you went on patrol. You were gone for a long time. What if you happened to find some poor, defenseless, injured demon and- being the person you are- couldn't just leave him there to die and decided to help the monster?"_

 _Bill froze, startled his brother realized the truth so easily. Tobias smirked, relaxing. "So, what's his name?"_

 _Thinking things were okay, Bill responded, "Jared."_

 _Tobias' eyes widened. "Jared? The chief incubus and Sabina's henchman, Jared?"_

 _Bill shrugged. "I don't know his status. Never asked about it."_

 _"This is bad. I bet Jared put a spell on you to make you fall hopelessly in love with him. I bet he sucks your power every time you see him, incubi can do that, you know. I bet he's using you so he can be free."_

 _"NO!" Bill shouted. "He- he wouldn't do that! He loves me, and I love him!"_

 _Tobias shook his head. "He's using you. I have to fix this, I have to save you."_

 _"I'm not in danger!"_

 _Tobias waved his hand, ropes of light wrapping themselves around Bill, rendering him immobile and unable to use magic. "Let me go!" Bill shouted, struggling to break free anyways. Tobias ignored him for the moment, instead focusing on setting up space to perform the ritual._

 _Once complete he turned back to his brother, kissing him on the forehead and saying, "I'm doing this for you, Bill. I'm not going to let anything separate us again." Then he cast the spell and entered the Mindscape, candles flickering out as his soul entered the realm._

* * *

The only coherent thought Ford had was, _This is amazing!_ Then he realized he was kissing Ariel, _kissing his crush,_ and she might not have wanted to do that, so he shot back up, blushing profusely, before losing his balance and falling over again.

Ariel sat up more carefully, helping Ford up again and asking, "Did we just-"

Ford nodding, blush deepening- if that was even possible.

"Oh." Ford then passed out.

Ariel snorted. She covered Ford with her jacket, then turned to watch the lanterns flying into the air. "Silly humans, getting all worked up over a kiss," she muttered, smiling softly.

Of course, the reason she didn't freak out was because she had billions of years of experience, and this was far from her first kiss. Although she did know it was Ford's first kiss.

What did she think about Ford? His new teenage form was certainly attractive, by her standards. He was also entertaining, and intelligent, and someone she could actually have a decent conversation with, which was rare. But was she in love with him?

The sound of fireworks startled Ariel out of her thoughts. It also seemed to drag Ford back into consciousness.

"Wha's happening?" Ford asked, sitting up.

"The fireworks just started," Ariel said calmly.

"Oh." He turned, sitting next to Ariel so they could both see the show.

"They're beautiful." Ariel commented.

"Yeah," Ford agreed. "Mabel sure did a good job."

Ford's hand found hers. Ariel said nothing, just decided to return the action. "She sure did," Ariel said, resting her head on Ford's shoulder.

* * *

 _Tobias appeared in the Mindscape, noting the lack of color. It seemed odd, having been created by someone as usually playful and cheerful as his brother. He took it as more proof that his brother was being controlled by a monster._

 _He spotted a brunette demon a ways away. He frowned. Jared._

 _The demon noticed him. "Will!" he shouted, smiling as he raced over to embrace the sylph. He stopped a few feet away, tilting his head. "You're not Will. You're his brother. What did you do to him?!"_

 _"My brother is not fit to deal with creatures such as yourself," Tobias said. "He is pure, gentle, innocent. He needs to be protected, not destroyed by monsters such as yourself."_

 _Jared snorted. "Is that what your doing, protecting him? I've never even attempted to hurt him, he comes to me because you always ignore him."_

 _"I do not ignore him!" Tobias protested. "Whenever I try to see him, he's with you!" He growled. "Time to die, scum."_

* * *

 _Ariel raced into Bill's bedroom. "Wiliam!" she gasped. "What happened?"_

 _"T-Tobias," Bill stammered. He was in tears at this point. "He, he found out I was spending time with a demon and went to go kill him!" Not that Ariel would probably care, she'd probably encourage it._

 _Instead, her gaze softened as she stared at the trapped spirit. "You love him, don't you?"_

 _"What do you know?" Bill spat._

 _Ariel laughed. "More than you think, little one. And I also know that if your brother is not stopped, a new monster will be created, one that will attempt to destroy this universe." She snapped her fingers. "Go, stop him."_

 _Bill appeared in the Mindscape moments later. Tobias and Jared were in the midst of a heated battle. Jared was pinned to a tree by Tobias' magic. Tobias' hand was glowing, preparing to blast Jared into oblivion. "NO!" Bill shouted, dashing into the path of the beam. Tobias didn't have time to stop the spell before it hit his brother instead of his enemy._

 _"Will!" Tobias shouted, rushing to his brother. He cradled his twin in his arms as his unconscious body started to disintegrate, his soul vanishing into nothingness._

 _"NO!" Jared shouted. "There has to be a way!"_

 _Somehow Tobias remembered something his brother had told him centuries ago. "I think I can save him. But you have to promise you'll stay away from him."_

 _"He has to live! I'll do it if you'll save him!"_

 _Tobias extended his hand. Jared took it. "Deal."_

 _Tobias looked down at the delicate figure that was half-gone. He didn't know what spells or incantations to use, but it came to him as though it was instinct. He somehow knew how to take the bits of soul he was holding, take them inside him. Merge them into one person, one with himself._

* * *

Mabel had just had the best day ever. It was just a fun day, spending it with no one except Pacifica, the girl she'd gotten very close to since Weirdmageddon. They made a goal to do everything and they did, laughing and joking the entire time. She'd even gotten Pacifica to wear another of her sweaters, a red one with a gold lantern.

They were in one of the boats, preparing to release their lanterns with everyone else. "So, what are you going to wish for?" Pacifica asked.

 _For one of my romances to actually work out,_ Mabel thought. But she said, "If I tell you, then my wish won't come true!"

"Aww come on, you don't really believe that silly superstition, do you?"

"Hey, I gotta believe in something!"

"True," Pacifica said softly, paying more attention to the lanterns they were releasing.

"Hey, I have something I need to tell you," both girls said at the same time.

"You go," Mabel said.

"No, you first," Pacifica said, blushing.

"Okay. Umm, Pacifica, we've gotten super close over these past couple of months and I've learned that you're a really cool person to be around. You're fun, and funny, and creative, and I- I love you," Mabel said, more nervous than she'd ever been.

Pacifica's eyes lit up. "Really?! I mean, I was just about to say that I loved _yo_ u."

"That's amazing!" Mabel cheered. "Ohmygod does this mean-"

She was interrupted by Pacifica kissing her. On the lips. When they finally had to pull away to breathe, Pacifica smiled. "Yeah. It does."

* * *

 _Tobias smiled, feeling Bill's soul connected to his. 'Where am I?' he could hear Bill wondering in his head. He could see the spirit floating next to him, eyes closed forever. 'What's going on? Why can't I see anything?'_

 _Tobias shook his head. 'I've found a way to keep you safe, forever. No one's ever going to hurt you now.'_

 _He opened his eyes (wait,_ eye. _Although he didn't really care)_ , _looking at Jared. "What did you do?" the incubus demanded. "Where's Bill?"_

 _"Right here with me," Tobias said. "You can't see him? No matter. You are a danger to everyone. Time for you to die."  
_

 _"What? No way, I didn't agree to this!"_

 _"You agreed to stay away from Will if I saved him. You didn't say I couldn't harm you as well," Tobias said, finally blasting Jared into oblivion, releasing a blinding light._

 _When Tobias finally opened his eye, the scene had changed. He was on a barren landscape, with burning skies and charred ground. A single, lone figure was standing with him. Sabina._

 _The female demon chuckled, looking at him. "My, my. Aren't you unusual?"  
_

 _"What do you mean?" Tobias snarled._

 _A mirror appeared in front of him. His appearance had changed, now he was a gold Eye of Providence with stick-figure limbs and a top hat and bowtie. Sabina was standing behind him- when did she get there?_

 _"Welcome to the Nightmare Realm, Bill Cipher."_


	14. Day 6: Summoning

**Alyssa: Hi guys! Sorry it took so long, we've had a pretty hectic... almost two weeks. I sprained my ankle!**

 **Alec: Yeah. And need to QUIT WALKING ON IT. StarCre8tion- Glad you seemed to enjoy it. And this is a significantly milder chapter than the past couple, so hope you like this one.**

 **Alyssa: RepeatingSimplePhrases- To be honest, Ariel isn't quite sure just yet as to whether or not she likes Ford like that. Ford is happy she at least didn't freak out, and hopes she'll tell him if she returns his feelings eventually.**

 **Alec: People seem to like the story so far, since we have 18 followers now.**

 **Alyssa: If we get 20, we'll do a special chapter!**

 **Alec: Yeah. But we would like to hear from more people, too. We both love that StarCre8tion and RepeatingSimplePhrases give us tons of feedback, but we also want to know what the rest of you think.**

 **Alyssa: Yeah! We know you're reading this! I'm talking to you, buddy.**

 **Alec: Anyways, review or don't. Although we don't post chapters until we get at least one review, even if we have the next chapter ready. And we don't own Gravity Falls.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

 _Millions of years went by. Bill eventually found the Mindscape limited to a tiny, hick town known as Gravity Falls, due to Ariel's magic restraints. He kept himself busy by watching the idiotic humans and imbecilic creatures of the area- sometimes messing with them- and also planning his escape from the Mindscape and Nightmare Realm._

 _One day a pair of twin children entered Gravity Falls to spend their summer at the Mystery Shack, a place Bill had kept a very close eye on, due to the fact that his ticket out was hidden there. But the twins fascinated Bill. In a way, their relationship was a lot like his and Will's when they were younger. The boy and girl were incredibly close, the best of friends, getting along to an almost unnatural extent. Bill knew about this dangers of this town, and made a vow to himself to protect the children._

 _That's when he was summoned by Gideon. The child psychic wanted Bill to enter Stan Pine's mind. No matter what he needed from the mind- the code to the safe honestly wasn't vital to_ his plans _\- as simple-minded as Gideon's were. But, of course, Gideon still needed to be stopped, and it was the perfect opportunity to show the children what Stan was hiding from them._

 _Of course, things didn't necessarily go as planned. They still knew next to nothing about their Grunkle's past, although they did stop Gideon from getting his hands on all three journals. And he didn't even have to hurt the kids, something he didn't ever want to do._

* * *

"Whoa, whoa," Dipper said, holding up a hand. "You're seriously telling me that Bill Cipher is _Tobias?_ With his twin brother Will sort of attatched to him?" Every evening Ariel told them the memories Bill would have experienced during that day. "But, why are we going through Will's memories, then?"

"It was to torture Bill," Ariel said. "The one thing I couldn't change about the spell." She sighed. "Although he'll forget everything that happened while he was unconscious anyways."

"Seriously?!" Dipper seemed a bit pissed. Then again, Ariel had mentioned that some of the things Sabina did had helped Bill be a better person, even though she was still pushing him to his breaking point.

Ariel nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

"What about Will?" Mabel asked. "We can't keep him trapped forever, can we? There has to be some way to help him."

"Hmmmm," Ariel appeared to be deep in thought. "First we'd need to figure out what Will wants, first, and go from there." She brightened. "Hey, Dipper! Wanna learn how to summon things with a soul? Or the demon equivalent, in some cases."

* * *

 _Out of the two twins, Pine Tree was certainly the most interesting. And frustrating, as he always kept looking for trouble. But, hey, the kid was curious._

 _Bill watched as the kid tried to figure out the password to the laptop. That thing was going to get him nowhere, at least what was inside. Suddenly, he had an idea._

 _"There has to be some shortcut or clue," Dipper said. "Who would know about secret codes?"  
_

 ** _That's my cue._** _Bill made his entrance as dramatic as possible. "I think I know a guy!"_

 _He knew Dipper wouldn't have agreed to a deal at that point. That wasn't what he was doing then. No, he was just setting things up, putting ideas in Pine Tree's head to make it easier to agree to a deal later._

 _That morning, Dipper was still trying to get into the laptop. "Password. Password. Mabel. Is. Useless." He yawned. "Aww, man."_

 _"Too many failed entries," the laptop droned. "Initiate data erase in five minutes."_

 _"No! Nonono!" Dipper whispered, grabbing the computer. "I'm gonna lose_ everything?! _I only have one more try?"_

 _Bill's entrance was more practical that time. "Well, well, well! Someone's looking desperate!"_

 _"I thought I told you to leave me alone!"_

 _"I can help you kid, you just need to hear out my demands!" Bill sang, knowing it would work out as planned._

 _Dipper looked at the countdown. "Ugh. What crazy thing do you want anyway? To eat my soul? To rip out my teeth? Are you gonna replace my eyes with baby heads or something?"_

 _Did Pine Tree really think that way? "Yeesh, kid, relax. All I want is a puppet!" Come on, take the bait._

 _"A puppet?" Pine Tree was still suspicious_ _. "What are you playing at?"_

 _"Everyone loves puppets! And it looks to me like you've got a surplus!"_

 _He sighed. "I dunno, man. Mabel worked really hard on those."_

 _"Seems to me one puppet is a small price to pay to learn all the secrets of the universe." He moved closer to Pine Tree. "Besides, what has your sister done for you lately? How many times have you sacrificed for her, huh? And when has she ever returned the favor?" Oh yeah, here it comes. Pine Tree glanced out the window at Shooting Star and back at the clock._

 _"Tick tock, kid!"_

 _"Just one puppet? Fine! Deal!" They shook hands, Bill destroyed the laptop- which actually led them closer to figuring out the Author. He would have destroyed the journal, but that damn Shooting Star just HAD to get in his way._

 _Oh well. No matter. It was too late to stop his plans now._

* * *

A couple hours later Dipper was getting ready to practice summoning. Zach- Dipper's friend and a fire spirit whom Ariel worked very closely with in the defeat of Bill Cipher- was there to help in case anything went wrong. Not that Ariel expected anything to go wrong, but Dipper thought it wouldn't hurt to have backup, just in case.

Ariel sighed. "Everyone ready?" The four in the room- Dipper, Mabel, Zach and Ford- nodded. "Good. You remember what to do, Dipper?"

Dipper nodded. "Yeah. And it should pull the closest spiritual entity into the circle, so that would be either Zach or you, right?"

"Exactly." He crouched on his knees, placing his hands on the circle."

In quacumque die invocavero industriam, ubicumque trahere spiritum meum intra circulum laqueum mihi

!" There was a bright flash of light and-

Neither Ariel nor Zach had moved from their spots. There was another entity in the room. It appeared humanoid- although it _did_ have a pair of horns and a tail- but it's skin was cracked and scorched black. Beneath the scorched top layer flowed what appeared to be softly glowing lava, and a set of four wings made from fire sprouted from it's back. It looked at Dipper with glowing red eyes. "Why have you sssummoned me, mortal?" It's voice was the hiss of oil touching a scalding hot pan.

"Uh-uh, I wa-wasn't t-trying t-to su-summon you, sir," Dipper said. "I-it was an accident."

The demon narrowed it's eyes. "As you seem to have no reason for summoning me, it would appear I can go free." It started to step out of the confining circle.

"You'll do no such thing, Zeiron," Ariel growled.

The fire demon looked at the young woman. "I'd like to see you try, O Queen of the Spirits."

Ariel launched herself at the demon, throwing am orb of light at the creature. He hissed as it evaporated part of it's arm, but proceeded to punch Ariel in the chest. She gasped with pain, the demon scorching her skin. He raised his fist to strike again.

Before the blow could connect with Ariel's body, Zach was in the way, hair flaming (although that was semi-normal) and holding back the demon. He launched himself at Zeiron, shoving him back into the circle. "Send him back!" Zach shouted. "I can't hold him here forever!"

"But that'll send you back too!" Dipper protested. "You're in the circle with him!"

"I'll be fine! Just do it!"

Dipper hesitated, before finally chanting "Creatura finita terminorum dimisit spiritus dimittet eam de domo." There was a gust of wind, and Zach and Zeiron were gone.

"Don't worry, Zach's not stuck there forever," Ariel said, seeing Dipper sad about banishing his friend. "He'll find a way back, I promise."

* * *

 _While Bill certainly didn't like Sixer to begin with, he hated him now. You just don't try to rip a pair of twins apart like that. They NEED each other, regardless of Sixer's own messed-up life. At the same time, he also knew that the twins were dangerous to his plans while they were together, but at least he wasn't being self-righteous about it._

 _"Mabel, wait! I didn't mean it like that!" Pine Tree shouted as Shooting Star ran out of their room and into the woods._

 _Shooting Star was curled up under a pine tree. Pine tree, heh."Only party candy can cheer me up." She pulled out some of Pine Tree's things. "Nerd books? Chewed up pens?" She shoved the bag away. "Ugh. Wrong backpack." She looked on the verge of tears. "It's not fair. I just wish summer could last forever," Shooting Star whispered, going inside her sweater._

 _Aaaand here was Bill's cue. "That might be possible," he said in his host's voice. What was his name again? Oh well. It didn't matter._

 _"Sweatertown is NOT accepting incoming calls right now," Mabel refused._

 _"M-m-m-mabel, it's me!" He said, pulling off his host's uncertain nature perfectly._

 _Mabel looked out from her sweater. "What? Who's said that?"_

 _He stepped out of the shadows, undoing his camouflage. "A-ah, I can help!"_

 _"The time travel guy?" Wow, even Shooting Star didn't remember his name? Talk about lame. Well, at least it would serve it's purpose. "What are you doing here?" She curled up more, clutching the bag now._

 _"You said you didn't want summer to end, right? Di-did I hear that right?"_

 _"Yeeeaaah. Why are you asking?" She sounded uncertain._

 _"Look, maybe it's against the rules but you once did a favor for me, so, I thought I could help you out. It's called a time bubble, and it prevents time from going forward. Summer in Gravity Falls can last as long as you want it to."_

 _Shooting Star sniffled, wiping away some tears. "R-really? But how does it work?"_

 _"I just need you to get a little gizmo for me from your uncle," he said, pulling up a hologram of the rift. "Something small. He won't even know it's missing."_

 _"Huh, maybe Dipper has something like that in his nerd bag," she said, rustling around in the backpack. She pulled out the rift. "Huh. That's... odd. Is this it?"_

 _He could barely contain his excitement. "Yes! That's it! Just hand it over, and I'll do my thing. Unless you're ready to_ leave _Gravity Falls?"_

 _"Just a little more summer," Shooting Star whispered, looking at him. She gave him the rift._

 _"Oops!" He said mockingly, dropping the orb._

 _"What?!"_

 _He stepped on it, smashing the container more. He laughed, slowly returning to his real laugh as he pulled off the goggles, revealing who he truly was._

 _"Oh no! Waitwaitwait!" Shooting Star shouted, backing up. He snapped his fingers, causing her to pass out before continuing to laugh. He could hear Will in his mind, begging him to stop, but he didn't care. His goals were about to be completed._

 _Welcome to Weirdmageddon, Gravity Falls._

* * *

"This is it," Dipper whispered. "Time to summon Will."

It was evening now. Zach had made it back just fine, and they had just finished setting up the complicated diagram to summon _just Will's spirit_ into the circle- and leave Bill out of this.

Like before, Dipper put his hands on the circle. "Spiritu vocat (William Iridia) de carcere suo, et adducite eum ad me, ut loqueretur ei in orbe."

This time, the flash was softer, gentler, not blinding in the least. Floating inches above the circle was William Iridia.

"Will!" Ariel gasped. "You're all right!"

He tilted his head at the sound. "Ariel? Is that you? I- I can't see anything."

"Oh, you poor thing," Mabel said. "You have such a nasty twin."

Will looked...sad. "I know," he said softly. "I know everything he's done. I couldn't see anything, but I could hear his thoughts, hear what was going on around him."

"We want to help you in whatever way we can," Dipper said.

"Set me free," Will said. "I don't want to be a part of him anymore."


	15. Day 7: Awakening

**Alyssa: Yay! Two chapters in one day! And we got THREE reviews this time! And one from a new person!**

 **Alec: Yeah. StarCre8tion- Shocked about Will, Bill, or something else?**

 **Alyssa: VioletAssassin1124- Yup! Which is perfect ground for BillDip!**

 **Alec: RepeatingSimplePhrases- planning on it. And thanks for pointing out the error, we made sure to fix it. Well, I did while Alyssa was playing with her crutches. Trust me, it was barely after midnight for us when we posted the last chapter- and we tend to post things late at night- so if you find any other errors, we will greatly appreciate it.**

 **Alyssa: This time we wrote scene one to "Book of Days" by Enya ,and the second scene to "Half a Week Before the Winter" by Vanessa Carlton.**

 **Alec: Yeah. And we don't own Gravity Falls. Wish we did, then the story would keep going. And Bill would have stayed alive.**

 **Alyssa: I know, right? *Wobbles on crutches before falling over.* I'm okay! I am O-KAY! Please read and review!**

* * *

Ariel smiled at the sight in front of her as she walked into the living room the next morning. Mabel seemed to have fallen asleep comforting Will, who- now that he was away from Bill seemed to have his own body- was tormented by the knowledge of all that his brother had done. Just because he couldn't see what happened didn't make things better, instead it seemed to have made things worse. Mabel refused to let Will sleep by himself, saying that he needed someone to be there in case he had nightmares- which the tear streaks on the boy's face seemed to indicate that he did. Since he couldn't leave the summoning circle without going back inside his brother's head, Mabel brought pillows and blankets into the living room and the two ended up sleeping together.

Ariel was very happy about this. Not the nightmares or the fact that Will was probably scarred for life, but the fact that Will actually seemed to have a friend. As playful and mischievous as he was- a trait that seemed to pass into his brother, albeit in a twisted form- Will tended to be shy, and never really had many friends. Mabel would be good for him, and so would Dipper.

Deciding to let the two sleep, Ariel walked into the kitchen to start breakfast. Hmmm... waffles. Waffles would be nice. Waffles were good. She started making waffles, along with some scrambled eggs and smoothies. Ariel really liked smoothies. And french toast, but that was for very special occasions.

She was humming the tune to one of the many random songs she had on her phone when Dipper walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. "Mabel and Will are asleep on the floor," he said, yawning.

"I know. Did you let them sleep?"

"Yeah. What are you making for breakfast?"

"Waffles. And eggs. And smoothies."

He yawned. "Okay. What time is it?"

"Almost 11."

"Oh. We sure slept late."

She laughed. "No kidding. Wanna set the table for me?"

"Sure."

The next one to wake up was Ford, then Mabel and Will- Mabel was going to eat with Will in the living room, and was planning on teaching him how to use a fork- then Stan.

They were all talking and laughing and just enjoying themselves- Ford was also trying to play footsie with Ariel and failing- when they heard a scream.

* * *

Everyone rushed into the room that housed the demon known as Bill Cipher. The demon was sitting up, hyperventilating as he stared at his fleshy hands.

"I- I'm human," he whispered. He noticed the people crowding the doorway. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?! UNDO THIS, MORTALS!"

"We stopped you," Ariel said simply, leaning against the door-frame. Ford was standing behind her protectively- not that she needed any protection. "And I'm not changing you back, plain and simple. I can't have you trying to take over the world again, that's that."

He glared at her. "Where's Will?"

"Hmm?"

"Where. Is. My. Brother," Bill growled. His eyes started to glow red, his hands bursting into flames. "What did you do to him?"

"He doesn't want to be with you!" Mabel said. "You hurt him!"

"I protected him!" Bill shouted. "I kept him safe!"

"You tormented him!" Mabel shouted back. "You gave him nightmares!"

"I did not!" He shouted, launching himself at the girl. Mabel shrieked, trying to run. Bill moved closer, but Ariel reached out, touching Bill's forehead with a glowing fingertip. He collapsed.

Ariel sighed, placing Bill back on the couch in the room. "Looks like he managed to keep a good portion of his power," she said.

"How do we keep him under control?" Ford asked, concerned.

She sighed, "Let's talk about this elsewhere. I don't want to accidentally wake up the former tortilla chip."

Stan snickered at the nickname. "Tortilla chip. That fits."

They walked back into the kitchen to talk, everyone sitting at the table again. "The best option would be a soul bond," Ariel said.

"Soul bond?" Dipper asked.

Ariel nodded. "It connects two beings. The person who initiates the bond is able to set some... rules, that the other has to follow." She then explained the process of creating a soul bond, including writing down the spell required for it to be completed. "We could prevent Bill from using his powers without the 'master's' permission, prevent him from getting too far away, keep him from hurting anyone." She paused. "You know, if we soul-bonded Bill to one person and Will to another, it would actually separate them completely."

"I could bond myself to Bill," Dipper offered.

"No way!" Ford said. "It's too dangerous."

"Not really," Ariel said. "There's no way Bill would be able to harm Dipper if they were soul-bonded together."

"I won't allow it!" Stan protested."What am I gonna tell their parents?"

"Their parents are letting them live here. They don't have to know."

The three continued to argue, neither side relenting. Dipper and Mabel looked at each other, sending a silent message. Nodding, Mabel grabbed the piece of paper that explained the soul bond and the two slipped out unnoticed.

Both twins sat on Dipper's bed. "Okay, how are we going to do this?" Dipper asked.

"Well, I was gonna do the soul-bind thingy with Will, so I guess you're stuck with Bill."

"Yeah. I was thinking that too."

"Think we have to cast the spell at the exact same time?"

"Maybe. We'll probably be fine as long as we cast it at close to the same time."

Mabel grinned. "Let's do this."


	16. Bonds Part 1

**Alyssa: WE'RE BAAAACK!**

 **Alec: *groans* It's only been two days.**

 **Alyssa: So? That can be a long time to some people!**

 **Alec: Yeah, you. StarCre8tion- sorry about any confusion. We tried to clear that up in this chapter. Let us know if you're still confused.**

 **Alyssa: RepeatingSimplePhrases- do we even want to know? Then again, we _did_ say this was BillDip...**

 **Alec: Before I gouge my eyes with a rusty spoon- we don't own Gravity Falls.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review! *Chases after Alec* Lemme do it for you!**

* * *

"I still don't quite get how this was possible," Ford said, rubbing the back of his head. "I though the two essentially merged into one person."

"Eh, sorta," Ariel said, wobbling her hand. "It was more like Tobias tried to fuse them and only partially succeeded. What basically happened was that they shared headspace while Tobias was in control and Will's personality only somewhat came out. And when it did, it was perverted and corrupted from the original."

"Oh." They glanced at the four asleep on the couch. Will and Mabel were asleep together -arms intertwined in a platonic embrace- while Bill appeared to be subconsciously holding a sleeping Dipper protectively- while the former triangle himself was also asleep.

"So, what do we do now?"

As if on cue Will started to wake up, Mabel waking with him. Mabel rubbed her eyes. "Did it work?" she asked sleepily.

"Yep," Ariel said calmly.

"Wooohooo!" Mabel cheered, not realizing that her brother and Bill were still asleep.

Bill groaned, slowly starting to wake up. He opened his eyes, seeming to notice that he was holding something. He looked down at Dipper as Ariel snickered, "Oooohhh, this is _perfect_ blackmail material. You seem to enjoy sleeping with your _lover,_ eh?"

"Shut up," Bill snarled, blushing furiously, still not letting go of Dipper. Instead he just help the boy even more tightly."

Ariel giggled. "But it was just _so_ cute," she said. "I just _had_ to take a picture of you two cuddling in your sleep."

Bill opened his mouth, about to shout at his mother/sister (she may have created him and raised him, but she was still more of an older sister figure to him), when Dipper stirred. "Wha's goin on?" he slurred, not quite awake just yet.

"Not much," Ariel said, "just teasing Bill."

"Oh." His head flopped back against Bill's chest. Bill's blush deepened even further. That's when Dipper realized someone was holding him. He opened his eyes, realizing _Bill_ was holding him. "Let me go! Are you planning on strangling me or something?"

Shocked, Bill released the boy. "I- uh..." he stammered.

Ariel doubled over with laughter, even Will and Mabel giggling. "SHUT UP!" Bill shouted.

Dipper looked at Ariel. "Hey, did it work?" Ariel nodded.

"Did what work?" Bill asked, confused.

"Soul-bonding you to Dipper," Ariel said simply.

"WHAT? If you think I'm just gonna sit back and take orders from this _brat,_ think again," Bill said, still not realizing that they were roughly the same physical age.

"It's not anything major," Ariel explained. "The conditions of the bond are simply 1) you cannot use your powers without Dipper's permission, 2) you cannot be more than three miles away from Dipper and 3) you cannot harm anyone in the Pines family, Gravity Falls, or anywhere without Dipper's permission."

"No," Bill said, "Nonononononono! I will not let someone else control ME!" He then grabbed Dipper's throat. "I demand that you release me."

The second Bill's hand started to squeeze Dipper's throat, a powerful burst of electricity coursed through Bill's veins. He screamed, collapsing, moaning in pain as he writhed on the floor.

"Huh," Ariel said simply. "Guess that's what happens when you try to ignore the conditions." She looked at Mabel. "What were your conditions?"

Mabel shrugged. "Since I had to do something, Will and I agreed that it would be that he'd always protect me and help me whenever I asked."

Ariel nodded. "Seems reasonable." She looked down at Bill, who was still on the floor. "Didn't think it'd be _that_ bad. Then again, you _did_ try to attack the person you're soul-bonded to."

"So, wait," Dipper said, "how much do you actually know about soul-bonds?"

"Eh, just the spell and the concept, mostly. And that it always benefits the human the most, and doesn't give them any negative side-effects."

"Hmmm," Ford mused. "Looks like we need to do more research on this." He looked at Ariel. "Shall we?"

She followed him down into the basement. Mabel looked at the twin boys. "I think we need to go to the mall."

"Wait. What?" Dipper wasn't fully awake, but he was pretty sure it didn't make sense to anyone but Mabel.

She frowned, looking at the twin boys, who shifted nervously under her gaze. "Now that they have bodies, they're gonna need more clothes. It's time to go shopping!"

* * *

Ariel sat on the counter, letting her legs swing as they dangled off the edge. "So, where do you think we should start?" she asked.

"I suppose we should start with how you found out about soul-binding in the first place," Ford suggested.

Ariel shook here head. "Not gonna get much there. Just about every spirit and demon out there knows about soul-binding. The spell, well, that's actually pretty easy to get a hold of, sadly."

"Hmmm... perhaps there's some magical residue where Dipper and Mabel performed their spells. We could analyze it and see what we get," Ford said.

"Sounds like a good idea." The pair worked in silence, neither one wanting to discuss the elephant in the room, the reason it was now completely awkward whenever it was just the two of them.

Unable to stand it any more, Ford cleared his throat. "Ahem, uh, why don't we take a break?" he suggested.

Ariel's stomach growled loudly, getting a slight, awkward smile out of them both. "Sounds like lunchtime," Ariel said softly.

She made sandwiches and grabbed chips and soda for them both, the pair taking their food back down into the basement. Ariel opened her mouth to speak, but took a bite of her sandwich instead.

"Ariel, I..." He stopped. "Look, about what happened in the boat..."

"It was an accident," Ariel said, "No biggie. I'm not upset. Promise."

"But I didn't want it to be an accident! I- I love you," he said.

She shook her head. "No. It's just your teenage hormones making you think like that," she said. "It's because we're the same age physically you're feeling like this."

"It's not," Ford said. "I've loved you for quite some time, Ariel. I just happen to have the courage to tell you now. Ariel, you're intelligent and witty and fun to talk to and beautiful and one of the only people that truly understand me. I love you, and-"

He stopped, noticing tears in the spirit queen's eyes. "What's wrong? Did I say something bad?"

Ariel laughed. "No, of course not. It's just, no one's ever felt that way about me before."

"Ariel, I need to know. Do you feel the same about me?"

"I- I need to think," she said, rushing out the door.

* * *

 **Alec: On a side note, we're planning on splitting the story into two parts. Revivisco is going to be the story in Bill's Dreamworld, and "Becoming Cipher" is going to be while they're going through Bill's memories and everything afterwards. We'll do that tomorrow, so keep an eye out for it!**


	17. Bonds Part 2

**Alec: Alyssa can't talk at the moment. She's having a number of breakdowns due to the fact that she's finally talking to people about the abuse our stepfather gave her for the past ten years. It's not easy, for her or me. She's still writing (it helps) but doesn't feel up to talking to people right now.**

 **StarCre8tion- glad we helped. And we both love that you support our ships. I personally think MabWill is cool, Ariel thinks it sounds a lot like MaBill. Oh well.**

 **RepeatingSimplePhrases- Yeah, and there's gonna be more in this chapter. The twins are 14 at the moment. This arc of the story is about to end, then we're skipping three years into the future. The next arc is gonna be a separate fic, btw.**

 **We don't own Gravity Falls. Please read and review!**

* * *

"Shooting Star's insane," Bill groaned, flopping onto the couch. The four had finally gotten back from the mall and everyone was exhausted, no one noticing the extra shadow that snaked along the floor into the house with them.

"No kidding," Dipper sighed, falling back next to him. "Even more so because she was trying to create two full wardrobes for you guys. I feel sorry for Will."

"I would have tried to hide if I was him," Bill said. "Wonder why he didn't?"

Dipper shrugged. Ariel picked that moment to stick her head into the living room. "Where's Mabel?" she asked.

"Upstairs putting everything away with Will," Dipper said, eyes closed. He was exhausted from being dragged around by Mabel all day.

"Mmm. Would you get her please? I'd like her and Will to set the table. Dinner's going to be ready soon."

Dipper stood, glancing at Bill. "Stay out of trouble," he warned, eyes narrowed.

"What are you, my babysitter?" Bill mocked.

Dipper opened his mouth, but decided not to say whatever retort he had planned. "Whatever." He ambled towards the stairs.

Mabel raced downstairs a minute later, dragging a somewhat-helpless Will. "Come on! Sooner we set the table, the sooner we can get back to our scrapbook!" she urged. Following behind them was Dipper, dead on his feet.

He tumbled back onto the couch, passing out almost instantly, head resting on Bill's shoulder. Bill froze, startled by the closeness and intimacy, a blush forming. Bill could feel Dipper's hair brush against some exposed skin. It was so soft. Unable to resist, he reached out a hand to comb his fingers through Dipper's hair.

He stopped, hearing a "CLICK!" and a familiar giggle. He turned his head to glare at Ariel, who was smiling. "What? It was cute." She shrugged. "Whatever. Dinner's almost done, so enjoy it while it lasts."

* * *

Ariel and Mabel were in the attic arguing over the merits of digital vs. film cameras when a crazed, maniacal laughter filled the house. Everyone looked around, searching for the source when a cry echoed from the living room where Dipper was recording something in his journal.

Everyone raced into the room from their respective areas- Bill and Will from the room they would be sharing with Dipper (Mabel would be sharing her room with Ariel on occasion, but mostly had it to herself), Ford from the basement, Stan from the gift shop, the girls from their room in the attic. Dipper was in the air, struggling against the hold of a being seemingly made entirely out of shadows, a female at that.

Sabina raised an eyebrow at the sight. "Looks like my spell got rid of your chances at a body, eh, Sabina?"

"That's your sister?" Mabel asked, shocked. "Thought she'd look more like you."

Ariel shrugged. "Nah. Polar opposites in everything. Put him down, sis. What on earth are you planning?"

"This twerp separated the boys! They are no longer one!" Sabina hissed.

"Finally someone else cares," Bill scoffed. A glare from everyone silenced him.

"Why don't you stop her?!" Mabel said.

"Can't. Powerless until Dipper gives the word," Bill explained, not seeming to care.

"Should I mention now that if the human dies, the soul they're bonded to also dies?" Ariel asked as she shot what appeared to be a disk made out of light, slicing through Sabina's arm and forcing Dipper's release. Dipper collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

Sabina snarled. "At least I should be able to obtain Cipher's powers. Hmmm, and the boy's too. What a lovely bonus." Extending her hands- the sliced one had regenerated- she gestured at the aforementioned boys, the three glowing with a demonic purple aura. Dipper and Bill writhed in pain, gasping for air. Sabina frowned, outstretched hand forming a fist. The boys convulsed, screaming in pain.

"Stop it!" Ariel shouted. She was now encased in a pale gold aura. She pointed at Sabina, the demon being thrown away, phasing through the walls and out of sight. She then knelt, pressing her hands to the ground. A golden burst exited her, expanding to surround all of Gravity Falls.

"What did you just do?" Ford asked.

"I banished Sabina from Gravity Falls. But it won't last long. We need a way to get rid of her that will be more permanent."

* * *

Ariel leaned forward. "We need something. Now. The barrier protecting Gravity Falls from Sabina won't last much longer." It had been a week since Sabina had been banished from the area.

"Yeah? So what do we do about it?" Bill asked. He actually cared a lot more than he let on, but only Ariel and Will really knew that.

Ariel sighed. "The only thing I could come up with is this spell." She placed a stack of papers detailing said spell on the table. "It will trap Sabina in an inanimate object, at least until the object breaks." She held up a wire-wrapped pendant made out of an opaque blue-grey crystal. "I was thinking this. Celestite also has the added bonus of resisting spiritual entities so it'll be extra protected."

"But that spell would kill any person who attempted it!" Ford protested.

"Not if it's done by two people that share a very special soul-bond. Unlike the one we all know about, there are no terms, power is shared. It's more of a partnership than the other one."

"I'm assuming you're the spirit in the bond," Ford said. "But who's the human?" He noticed Ariel staring at him. "Wait a second..."

* * *

"Are you sure this is safe?" Ford asked. He was standing in the center of an intricate diagram. "You haven't even told me what we need to do. Do I need to slit my arm? Cry on the center? Release my soul using some arcane method?"

Bill raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's just twisted, even for you, Sixer." Ford glared at him.

"No, that's not what we need to do," Ariel said. "Doesn't matter. I'm pretty sure it's something we've both been wanting to do with each other for a while."

"Huh?"

Ariel shook her head, stepping into the circle. She muttered a spell in Latin under her breath before pulling Ford close to her, her lips crashing against his.

The diagram began to glow as the kiss began. Ford returned the kiss, hesitant at first. But both couldn't hold back, it becoming more passionate and needy.

They only stopped to breathe. They could hear Bill chuckling. "Wow. Hey Ariel, is Sixer a good kisser?"

"Shut up before I turn you into a sparrow. I will, you know."

Bill made a face before deciding listening to her was the best option. Ariel looked at Mabel who was excitedly holding a camera. "OHMYGODYOUGUYSARESOCUTETOGETHER! THISISTOTALLYGOINGINTOMYSCRAPBOOK!"

Ariel laughed. She looked at Ford. "The bond isn't complete yet. Although children really shouldn't watch what's about to come next, so you four'd better scoot along before I have to knock you out."

* * *

Ford looked over at the woman lying in bed with him. It'd been his first time, so Ariel had walked him through what to do. He was a pretty quick study, according to her.

"Why did the spell have to be this way?"

"You didn't want this?" Ariel asked, confused.

"No, no, I've been imagining doing these things for quite some time, but still..."

She smiled. "This is a special bond. Not only in it's nature, but because both halves need to be passionate about each other."

"Does that mean-?"

Ariel nodded. "I don't like admitting to having feelings for humans, only because you age quickly and die easily, leaving creatures like me heartbroken when you're gone." Her gaze narrowed, staring at him with an intensity and ferocity that would have been absolutely terrifying if it wasn't for the soft, loving tint it had to it. "But I've fallen for you. Spirits are incredibly possessive, by the way, so I'm never letting you go."

Ford leaned closer, kissing the spirit.

She smiled, leaning back to rest her head against his chest. "You're so warm."

He frowened. "You feel like ice. Maybe I should turn up the heater?" He moved to get up.

She shook her head. "We're always like this." She paused. "You're nice," she mused, eyes closed. "So bright, so warm," she yawned. "So full of curiosity."


	18. Faerie

**Alec: Since Alyssa spent a good portion of the past few days as a sobbing mess locked up in her room, we're sticking with cute cheery filler stuff until she's doing better- it's kind of a filler arc with some cutesy romance stuff and Dipper actually being able to deal with Bill and Bill actually admitting he has feelings for Dipper (although not to Dipper). Not sure how much we'll be able to update these next two weeks- we're spending time with family on the other side of the country. Although she's doing a bit better, people are good at keeping her distracted for the most part.**

 **StarCre8tion- he knew the kids would be fine while they were asleep, so he was in the gift shop. He was there in the second scene, although Ariel was keeping everyone else from doing anything. And Ariel hinted to Stan what she and Ford were gonna do, and he didn't really want to see that. Although Stan did tease him about his first time being with someone who wasn't even human later.**

 **Blackthorn Ashe- thank you.**

 **RepeatingSimplePhrases- So glad you liked it!**

 **Alrighty, you guys know the drill. We don't own Gravity Falls, just the post-Weirdmagedon (Part 2) AU we've created. Please read and review!**

* * *

"You can't deny it!" Mabel shouted. "It's soooo obvious I'm surprised Dipper hasn't noticed!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Bill shouted back. He stormed out of the attic, slamming the door behind him.

Mabel glanced at Will. "I feel sorry for your brother, he can't admit his own feelings."

While Will knew that, he felt sorry for Bill for an entirely different reason. "Yeah."

Mabel grinned. "I have an idea! We're gonna make Bill admit to his true feelings!"

"How are we gonna do that?"

"I have a plan."

 _Oh dear. Now I really feel sorry for Bill. Dipper too._

* * *

Ariel groaned, flopping back onto her bed in the room she shared with Mabel. Mabel looked up from the sweater she was making. "What's up?"

"You see, spirits have a big Council Convention with representatives from all over the universe once every hundred years. It's a time to catch up and discuss any major issues going on at the time," Ariel explained. "But I don't wanna go!"

"How come?" Mabel asked.

"Because it's _so bor-ring,_ " she said, giving an exasperated sigh. "Most spirit representatives are super picky and snobby, and not at all interesting. I guess the three balls that take place during the Convention are okay, but they're only fun if you have someone to go with."

"What if you took us with you?" Mabel asked.

Ariel shook her head."Wouldn't work. Only spirits can enter the area it's being held in this year." She paused. "Although, there might actually be a way..."

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Stan asked. He wasn't coming- didn't want to leave for a few days because that would mean less money- but he was still concerned about his brother and niece and nephew.

Ariel nodded.

"And you're _positive_ that it's safe?" After all, this method hadn't been tested. He wouldn't be able to handle it if his family got hurt.

Ariel gave an exasperated sigh. "Look, Ford and I already did the reverse on me and I was just fine, although for a much shorter time period. By the way, actual human bodies are weird."

"That's what I keep saying!" Bill shouted.

Dipper rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Umm, can we get this over with? We do need time to get used to our bodies before we have to leave."

Ariel nodded. She snapped her fingers, five vials appearing in the palm of her hand. She held it out. "Well, don't just stand there. Take it!"

* * *

Ford looked at the vial in his hand, swishing the liquid as he looked at it. The liquid was a deep emerald green color, sparkling in the afternoon light. He wondered what it was like, being a spirit. (Ariel also explained that Spirits were a type of faerie, especially sylphs. While they hadn't had bodies in millions of years, they did now.) Well, there was no time like the present. He popped the glass stopper and downed the potion.

The change began almost instantly. His body felt like it was being twisted and squished by a giant, invisible hand. Looking down, he could _watch_ himself shrink, seeing the ground grow closer as his clothes buried him. He would have taken them off, but he was paralyzed, unable to even move his finger.

Eventually, the shrinking stopped and Ford was able to move again. He crawled out from the quite sizable mountain of clothes, blushing at his nudity. He looked at his body. It was the same as usual, just smaller. Although he could feel something on his back. He twisted, trying to see. He gasped, although he really shouldn't have been surprised.

Sticking out of his back were wings, thin and translucent, two pairs. Curious, he caused them to flap a bit.

He could hear a flapping sound, like a bird. Someone landed on the pile of clothes behind him. "Hello," Ariel said. She was the same small size as him, although she did look quite elegant in the long, strapless white dress she was wearing.

Ford jumped, startled, before quickly trying to cover himself with something. Ariel laughed. "I've seen you naked several times now. No biggie. Although you do look really cute like this."

"What?"

Ariel flapped her wings, landing in front of Ford. She was at least a foot and a half taller than him- if you were to compare heights to what they would be as humans. That was... odd. Ford was usually a couple inches taller than Ariel, as a human.

Ariel tilted her head. "It looks like the potion I just gave you neutralized some of the potion you took to grow older. I'd say you're about... eight years old, by human standards."


	19. Return

**Alec: Sorry it's been so long. Alyssa was a major mess for a bit, and it was kinda hard to want to write with just one review.**

 **Alyssa: But now we're back!**

 **Alec: We decided to brush over the Council Convention so we can move forward with the end of this part of the story. If anyone wants to hear about what happened, we'll publish a side story to cover the events.**

 **Alyssa: Yup! RepeatingSimplePhrases- glad you liked it!**

 **Alec: We don't own Gravity Falls. If we did, Bill would have lived for sure (although he did say he'd be back) and there'd be more seasons. Sorry about the short chapter.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

"E-eight years old?" Ford stammered. "Are you serious? Is it permanent?"

She nodded. "It'll likely wear off when you become human again. And, no, I don't think I can make you older as a faerie."

"Darn." Then he remembered he was naked. "Umm, do you think you could get me some clothes?"

Ariel laughed. "Of course." She snapped her fingers and he was wearing a light green tunic and dark blue pants- almost like jeans, but not quite.

* * *

"Woohoo!" Mabel cheered, doing a somersault in midair. Ford and Ariel had finally met up with everyone else, and were preparing to leave for the convention.

"I'm gonna get my powers back! I'm gonna get my powers back!" Bill was chanting, celebrating.

"Not really," Ariel said, "After all, the bond is still valid. Your powers are only usable if Dipper gives you permission."

"What!"

Ariel shrugged. "The spell just altered your physical form. It didn't give you any of the properties of a sylph, other than flight, which Dipper somewhat mastered in human form."

"Hey! I can keep my feet on the ground!" Dipper protested. "Sometimes," he muttered as an afterthought.

Ariel laughed. "I know, kiddo. Come on, lets get going." She pulled a glowing purple orb out of who-knows-where, and threw it at the ground. The orb exploded, purple mist swirling around and forming a vortex that Ariel then pushed everyone through before jumping in herself.

* * *

Dipper flopped back onto his bed. "Man, that was one crazy week," he moaned. "It is sooo good to be back in my normal body."

"And you still can't keep your feet on the ground," Bill commented, snickering.

Will just smiled, knowing that Bill actually cared about the boy he was forever bonded to. At least, they were bonded until Dipper released him or one of them died. It was kind of cute, watching Bill protect Dipper's unconscious body when he passed out after Soloma tried to "claim him." Bill really did love Dipper, he'd told Will himself. Now if only he could get the guts to tell Dipper himself. Then again, Bill always did love Dipper. But he was afraid Dipper hated him for what he'd done. After all, "who could love a monster like me?"

Will had pointed out that Ariel still loved him, but she didn't count in his mind, as he was their mother. Suddenly, an explosion from the basement rocked the Mystery Shack.


	20. Last Dance

**Alyssa: Woohoo! Last chapter before the final arc! At least, the final arc of this part of the story...**

 **Alec: Hate to say it, but the song scene probably takes up most of the chapter. Sorry. Also, we have an announcement to make. The fact is, we have 24 followers and yet we've only been getting one review per chapter lately. So we're changing the rules. IF YOU GUYS WANT THE NEXT CHAPTER, WE WILL NEED THREE REVIEWS FIRST. For those that can't count, that means we need the total of reviews for this fic to go from 44 to 47.**

 **Alyssa: Be nice, Alec! I'll respond to our one review. RepeatingSimplePhrases: Here's more Bipper! Or Billdip. Either one!**

 **Alec: Yeah. Also, we don't own Gravity Falls.**

 **Alyssa: Read and review! I'm watching you!**

* * *

The boys raced downstairs. "Is everyone okay?" Will called out.

"Fine!" Mabel shouted.

"We're alive," Ford affirmed. "But we have a slight problem."

Everyone raced down to find Ford holding a collapsed Ariel. She was completely unresponsive, not even moving when Mabel licked her.

"What happened?" Stan asked.

Ford shook his head. "Sabina launched a massive attack against the barrier. It won't last much longer, maybe four days at most. And only that long because Ariel lost consciousness to maintain the barrier."

"What do we do?" Dipper asked.

"Not much until the barrier breaks. When that happens we need to seal away Sabina as soon as possible. Although we should probably evacuate everyone from Gravity Falls in the meantime. This place is going to become a battlefield."

"Ariel mentioned a safe place underground," Dipper said. "Could we use that?"

Ford nodded. "That would work. We could probably get the spirit population to help us protect everyone else."

"Now that that's out of the way, it's time to cheer up!" Mabel said. "We should throw a party, get everyone together to celebrate that we're alive right now and that we finally found the _real_ cause of Weirdmageddon." (Over several centuries, Sabina had twisted Bill to the point he went truly insane, which is when he started planning Weirdmageddon.)

Ford nodded. "She has a point. It would get everyone together so it would be easier to make sure everyone gets to safety before things go down."

* * *

Which is why two days later Dipper, Bill, and Will were helping Mabel decorate.

When the party actually started that evening, Mabel instantly whisked Will away, pulling him into dances and introducing him to people. And almost the entire town was there. Literally. And it had expanded since Weirdmageddon. Bill and Dipper hung around closer to the wall, not really feeling social.

Actually, Bill was also trying to work up the courage to do something Will had challenged him to do earlier that day. Will had teased him- which was rather uncharacteristic of him, as of late- pointing out that Will had been able to confess to a _demon_ while still a slyph and half-blind, and yet Bill couldn't even confess to a measly human. Bill had then said he could confess to Dipper whenever he wanted, he was just waiting for the right time. So Will then challenged him to confess to Dipper during the party, or forever be taunted as a spineless wimp.

A new song started. Dipper tilted his head. "ECHO?" He asked, not even needed to hear the songs.

"Huh?"

"A Vocaloid song."

 _The clock stopped ticking forever ago_  
 _How long have I been up? I don't know_  
 _I can't get a grip, but I can't let go_  
 _There wasn't anything to hold on to, though_

He looked at him. "Would you, maybe like to dance?"

 _Why can't I see_  
 _Why can't I see_  
 _All the colors that you see?_  
 _Please can I be_  
 _Please can I be_  
 _Colorful and.. free?_

Dipper thought for a moment before nodding, following the ex-demon onto the dance floor.

 _What the hell's going on?!_  
 _Can someone tell me please-_  
 _Why I'm switching faster than the channels on TV_  
 _I'm black then I'm white_  
 _No! Something isn't right!_  
 _My enemy's invisible,_  
 _I don't know how to fight_

Their dance started slow, but sped up with the music.

 _The trembling fear is more than I can take_  
 _When I'm up against the echo in the mirror_

 _ECHO_

Dipper noticed that Bill was a very good dancer, guiding him through the dance. Bill noted that Dipper was a very good student.

 _I'm gonna burn my house down into an ugly black_  
 _I'm gonna run away now and never look back_

 _I'm gonna burn my house down into an ugly black_  
 _I'm gonna run away now and never look back_

 _I'm gonna burn my house down into an ugly black_  
 _I'm gonna run away now and never look back_

 _I'm gonna burn my house down into an ugly black_  
 _I'm gonna run away now and never look back_

Man, Dipper looked amazing tonight. Then again, he always looked amazing.

 _I'm gonna burn my house down and n-never look back_  
 _And never look back_  
 _AND NEVER LOOK BACK_ _What the hell's going on?!_

 _Can someone tell me please-_  
 _Why I'm switching faster than the channels on TV_  
 _I'm black then I'm white_  
 _No! Something isn't right!_  
 _My enemy's invisible,_  
 _I don't know how to fight_

He could do this. He could confess to Dipper.

 _What the hell's going on?!_  
 _Can someone tell me please-_  
 _Why I'm switching faster than the channels on TV_  
 _I'm black then I'm white_  
 _No! Something isn't right!_  
 _My enemy's invisible,_  
 _I don't know how to fight_

 _Bill's actually pretty cool,_ Dipper thought to himself.

 _The trembling fear is more than I can take_  
 _When I'm up against the echo in the mirror_

Bill opened his mouth as though to say something, but decided against it. He decided it would be better to just show him.

 _The trembling fear is more than I can take_  
 _When I'm up against the echo in the mirror_

The next thing Dipper knew, Bill's lips were pressed against his as the song ended.


	21. Lullaby

**Alec: Hey, everyone. Hope you all had a good Mother's Day. Ours was... eventful. Alyssa decided to make a cake for our mother, even though she'd disowned me and been tormenting Alyssa and making every interaction with the two end with Alyssa in tears. Yesterday was no exception. The cake was returned not even an hour after being delivered, untouched and with a nasty insulting note calling Alyssa a horrible person that was trying to buy our mother's love. That, well it broke Alyssa. Currently in the hospital waiting for her to wake up. Writing helps me stay sane, so I'll continue working on the story on my own until Alyssa recovers. If I finish the story before then, well, you'll hear from her when we start Part 2.**

 **RepeatingSimplePhrases- yup. Lots and lots of billdip.**

 **StarCre8tion- We both love Vocaloid. There's actually a really cool MMD for Echo on Youtube involving Bill, Will, Ford, Dipper and Mabel. It's awesome. And you can dance to just about anything. Me and Alyssa danced to Echo, well, mostly Alyssa. She's kind of a dork with music.**

 **Antarticqueen- it wasn't really meant as a plot device, more of a way of setting the scene.**

 **We don't own Gravity Falls. Please read and review!**

* * *

The pair broke away, Dipper blushing furiously and Bill claiming that he just did it to mess with him. Well, he said that so he wouldn't have to deal with any awkwardness until he could actually "man up and admit his feelings to Dipper," not that he'd ever admit that to anyone.

They managed to corral the residents of Gravity Falls to safety, with the help of the spirits. Everything was just fine, although Mr. Northwest had made a fuss about being "somewhere without those peasants." Someplace to themselves. To which Zach looked at him and deadpanned, "Sure. If you plan on dying in the next 14 hours."

Ariel woke up after everyone was safe. She said she could hold up the barrier through the night, but it was severely weakened. Bill would have to be careful, as Sabina would likely attack him in his dreams.

Everyone had trouble falling asleep, for various reasons.

* * *

Will and Ford were creating weapons to assist with tomorrow's battle, so it was just Bill and Dipper who were getting ready for bed.

Dipper walked into to their shared bedroom to find Bill perched on the edge of the bed, still in his clothes. "Aren't you going to get ready for bed?"

"Not tired."

" _Riiight._ Like I'll believe that, after Ariel made our soul-bond strong enough for us to feel each other's emotions. You're exhausted, but you're also scared."

"Am not!"

Dipper shook his head. "Dude, I can feel it radiating off you. Worried Sabina's going to attack you?"

Not particularly. What Bill was more worried about was Sabina possessing him. He might hurt Dipper, and he didn't want that. Still he said nothing.

Dipper took his silence as a yes. "You know, Ariel told me about a lullaby she used to sing to you and Will. She said it protected you."

* * *

Mabel and Ariel were also getting ready for bed.

"I wish there was more I could do," Mabel said. "Dipper has powers, Will has powers, Bill has powers, and I-"

She froze. Images started flooding into her mind of the upcoming battle. She saw Dipper being stabbed.

The influx of information was too much for her. She fell to her knees, clutching her head as it felt like volumes of images and information came flooding into her head. She whimpered in pain. "Why does it hurt?" she whimpered."Make it stop, Ariel."

Ariel knelt next to the teen, putting a hand on her back. "Your own powers just developed, sweetheart. I can't stop it completely, but I can make it hurt less."

* * *

Dipper started to sing the lullaby Ariel had taught him. Upstairs, Ariel was doing the same thing for his sister.

The pixies are dancing  
Spinning, twirling, gently turn  
In their circles  
They beckon me to dance  
Singing a song to sing along  
Of light and wonder

In the woods the fairies play till the light of day  
Dancing as they sing  
Swaying, swaying, gently sway  
The fairies sing their songs to me  
As they sleep  
A little song to sing along  
As you go to sleep

Little did Dipper know that the lullaby was in fact a protective spell, not noticing as a protective barrier shielded the ex-demon. Upstairs, Ariel smiled as Mabel fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.


	22. The Battle Begins

**Alyssa: I'M BAAAACK! Sorry we were gone so long, took a while for me to wake up and Alec wore himself out by never leaving my hospital room. Our uncle had to force him to leave to eat. And shower. Anywho, we're staying with him now. Our Uncle Altair is super dooper cool! Like, on the level of Stan and Ford cool**

 **Alec: Yeah. Sorry I didn't keep writing, it just didn't feel right to do it without Alyssa. That, and I had a... well I don't know what it is, really. I see stuff and get really paranoid for a few days. Although it's apparently not schizophrenia. Uncle Altair thinks I'm some kind of spirit medium, but who knows?**

 **Alyssa: I'm sooo thankful for all of your support, guys! It's helped me through a lot these past couple months, really, I swear! Antarticqueen- hehe, you'll see, Ariel's about to explain.**

 **Alec: RepeatingSimplePhrases- I totally got the Star Wars reference in your comment. That _was_ a Star Wars reference, right?**

 **Alyssa: StarCre8tion-It's hard to imagine us apart, either. And I'm really sorry for worrying everyone. Also, we absolutely LOOOOOVE your fic "Bonded." We're not very good at leaving comments, but we've read every chapter! Also, you should totally check out Cleon Heartfell's work, here on Fanfiction. The girl's a really good writer, but no one comments so she doesn't feel like posting anything. I would know, since she's a friend of ours.**

 **Alec: Thanks again, everyone. And we don't own Gravity Falls.**

 **Alyssa: If we did, this is how it would have continued. Please read and review! I'm watching you!**

* * *

Mabel woke up in time to see the sun rise. Even though she'd really only gotten six hours of sleep, she felt as well-rested as though she'd slept for a whole day. She sat up, noticing Ariel sitting on the bed across from her, reading a book.

"Did you sleep _at all_ last night?" Mabel asked.

Ariel looked up from her book. "Nope. I believe I remember telling you and your brother that I don't need sleep?"

"Yeah, but still..." Mabel paused, remembering last night. "What happened to me? What was it I saw?"

Ariel sighed. "You're a Seer, child. In most cases, if one sibling has magic, the other does not. But in the case of twins, if one is born with magic their power tends to seep into their twin, giving them _some_ power."

"That's so cool! Does that mean I can fly and summon stuff like Dipper?"

"No, Mabel. You don't have enough power for that."

"Awww, dang it. So what _can_ I do, then?"

"You're a Seer, Mabel. It means you can see what others cannot."

"Like what?"

"Possible futures, the past, things going on far beyond your normal field of vision. Seers also have some sort of defensive power, although I'm not quite sure what yours is." Ariel sighed. "Under normal circumstances, mastering your powers would take _years."_

"Under normal circumstances?"

Ariel nodded. "Yes. I am going to create an actual space-time-warp-bubble. Unlike the one Bill created, it will exist in this plane in a relatively small space, while in reality it will take up a space the size of Gravity Falls. And time will be frozen both inside _and_ out, so we will have time to stop Sabina."

"Let's do this!"

Ariel nodded. Closing her eyes, she clasped her hands together **(Alyssa- think Edward from Fullmetal Alcemist doing alchemy)** before spreading them apart, a door appearing and widening with the space between her hands.

"So cool!" Mabel said, excited.

Ariel opened her eyes. She extended a hand to Mabel, who took it. "Let's go."

* * *

When everyone else finally woke up Ariel told them all that she could only hold up the barrier for three more hours. So the group had a quick breakfast- with waffles, of course, since Ariel made breakfast- they all set to preparing for the upcoming battle.

Will and Ford had a variety of weapons that made use of the magical energy that was quite plentiful in Gravity Falls, creating arrows, bullets and even rockets that were bursting with the stuff- since ordinary weapons would be useless as Sabina didn't have a body.

"One minute!" Ariel called out. Everyone rushed to grab their weapons, Ariel handing a cannon and crossbow to Mabel. There was a whispered discussion before Mabel actually accepted the weapons.

"Three...two...one..."

Right on cue, a massive explosion knocked everyone to the ground.

* * *

Everyone rushed outside to see the sky grow pitch black as what looked like an enormous raven made of mist flew above Gravity Falls, hovering above the town.

"She managed to get power from the new moon last night," Ariel said. "What wonderful timing."

A sharp cry rang out as black flames erupted from the bird's mouth, setting the forest to the north ablaze with black fire. "Oh, _Pi-ines!_ Come out from your hidey-hole! Oh, and be sure to bring the little sylphs, too!"

Another burst of fire set more trees ablaze. "We are so totally fucked," Bill muttered.

"Come out and play!" Sabina sang.

"Ford and I will go into the spot we agreed on to set up the spell," Ariel said. "The rest of you will go keep her distracted, and lead her back over here when we're ready."

Ford looked up at the massive bird of destruction. "Are you sure we can fit all of that into a little necklace?"

"Positive."

"Now let's go! Before she wipes the valley clean!" Mabel shouted. She let out a war-cry before charging at Sabina.

"Mabel, be careful!" Will shouted, running after her.

Stan, Dipper and Bill followed."There's no such thing as careful in a battle, Will! You know that as well as I do!" Bill shouted.

* * *

 **Alec: Aaaand Alyssa's working on art for the battle. We'll tell you guys where to find it**


	23. Realizations and Foreboding

**Alec: Have we seriously been gone a whole month? Wow. Then again, it's been a hectic month filled with me needing to banish evil spirits from mine and Alyssa's room (I am not kidding. They actually attacked us), Alyssa dealing with a break-up, Alyssa thinking about starting a store on Etsy for the jewelry she's been making, actually getting somewhere with the court case involving our stepdad... and our great-grandfather dying of spinal cancer yesterday. So we're flying to Utah on Thursday for the funeral. We _do_ plan on finishing this. Just, when we have time.**

 **Alyssa: Yeah. RepeatingSimplePhrases- yeah, it worked. And thank you! I have had ideas for a while, but they have finally materialized into something I like, so we will probably give you guys the link with the next chapter.**

 **Alec: StarCre8tion- Mostly okay. Right now Alyssa's switching between normal and emotionless. And we're glad you liked Cleon's stuff! She would've written sooner but she's got some craziness of her own to deal with, in addition to taking it upon herself to help us. And, whoops!**

 **Alyssa: antartcicqueen- I bet you did! Then again, I do the same thing sometimes, especially since I got an actual smartphone recently.**

 **Alec: And we don't own Gravity Falls. Otherwise, this would be in the show. And sorry for the short chapter.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review! We love you guys!**

* * *

Everyone was surprised when Mabel summoned a sword out of nowhere. It was massive, two-edged, and pink (of course it's pink. This is Mabel we're talking about).

"I thought you couldn't use magic," Dipper said.

"I can't," Mabel confirmed.

"Then where-" He was cut off when Sabina let out an ear-splitting cry loud enough to make the ground shake.

"Ah! There you are!" Sabina said cheerfully.

* * *

Ford read the instructions for the spell while Ariel started to draw the casting circle. It was incredibly complicated, and Ford really didn't want to mess it up.

Ford was also cursing his teenage brain because he kept noticing every time she bent down to draw something how her ass would show more definition. And he also kept noticing her curvy hourglass figure. His brain really, really wanted to repeat what happened when they sealed their bond.

Ford had also forgotten that said bond allowed Ariel to hear every single one of his thoughts. She chuckled, not looking up from her work. "Maybe after all this is over, if we're not completely exhausted."

His face got so hot so fast Ford was half-surprised his bangs didn't set on fire.

* * *

Dipper had quickly freed Bill to use his powers on Sabina. Said ex-demon (or part demon, or maybe sylph- no one really knew what Bill was at the moment) glanced at his twin and nodded. The pair stood together, creating a massive beam of light that shot from the ground and impaled Sabina's massive raven body. The demoness shrieked with pain, writhing and twisting- which created some pretty strong winds.

Once she had recovered Sabina announced, "It's no fun this way. There's so much of me for you to hit. I think I'll take on a form that gives me more of an advantage." And she vanished.

They looked around wildly, trying to figure out where Sabina would be and what form she would take on next.

"Where is she?" Dipper asked out loud.

He didn't expect Sabina to whisper, "Right here," in his ear. And then stab him in the stomach with a black blade as big as the one Mabel wielded.

* * *

A strong wind blew through the clearing Ariel and Ford were setting up the trap in, smudging most of the partly-finished spell circle. Ariel groaned. "Now we've gotta start over."

"Don't worry," Ford assured her. "I'm sure the others can hold Sabina off until we're ready."

"I hope so." She glanced at the pitch-black sky. "But I have a very bad feeling about what's to come."


	24. Swords and Shields

**Alyssa: *head slams into table* Picture's still not done. Was gonna finish it during our flight to visit our dad after the funeral- since I had zero time to work on it while we were in Utah- but I had to watch my cousin and keep her occupied. Alec was on a different flight with our biological father. And then I forgot to save my work, and someone (another cousin, we have 15 on our dad's side alone) turned off my computer so now I have to start all over.** **Also, I really wanna draw some of the magic circles Ariel does. The one for this fight is _awesome!_**

 **Alec: Yeah. Utah was waaaay to busy to work on anything. There was the funeral, a luau, Alyssa doing the hula (she's good at it- runs in the family, we're 1/8 native Hawaiian), and our four-year-old cousin deciding my phone needed to take a swim in a lake.**

 **Alyssa: That was soooo not fun. But, we're back! RepeatingSimplePhrases- The man's having to deal with teenage hormones for the first time in decades. It's not easy for him. But he tries!**

 **Alec: StarCre8tion- We will. And LittleAmberAmethyst wrote 'Bonded.' You really oughta see what Alyssa does. She's pretty good. As for the spirits, we never asked their name. I can sense spirits, and see them, but I'm not too good at communicating with them.**

 **Alyssa: Aww, stop it you. DippySauce- while I can't really say anything about the other stories, it's a really useful device for us.**

 **Alec: antarticqueen- Glad you liked it. And we'll do our best.**

 **Also, we don't own Gravity Falls.**

 **Alyssa: Please read and review!**

* * *

Dipper stumbled, collapsing as the blade was roughly ripped out of his body.

"Pine Tree!" Bill shouted, rushing towards the teen- only to be blasted back by a wave of Sabina's magic with everyone else.

Said demon was cackling as she wiped the blood off her blade on her black dress. "One down, four to go. Then I go after the _real_ prizes."

Internally, Mabel was freaking out. Most of the futures she'd seen that involved Dipper getting stabbed ended badly- typically with Sabina eating someone's soul and then taking the sylph twins' powers (which wouldn't _kill_ them, although it would make them mortal and give Sabina the power to bring on an apocalypse that was more fire and brimstone and less weirdness bubbles and eyebats). Well, there was one thing she could do to potentially turn things in their favor.

Mabel raised her sword into the air and let out a battle cry, running at the demoness with blade aimed for her chest. Sabina easily deflected the blade with her own sword, chuckling. "Did you really think it would be that easy to kill me, girl?"

"Mabel!" Stan shouted, racing towards his niece. A shadow rose up to hold him down.

"Stay out of this." Sabina warned.

Mabel grinned. Everything was according to plan.

* * *

"Okay, aalmost done," Ariel muttered, starting to draw runes into the circle. "Just gotta finish these runes, place the crystal in the center, set a cloaking spell, and then give the signal to Will and Bill to lure Sabina over here."

"You make that sound easy," Ford commented, looking over her shoulder. He'd moved close enough that he could smell her shampoo. She smelled like lavender and citrus and brown sugar. Sweet, but also sharp. **_(A/N: Alyssa actually has a soap that smells like that. We got it at the beach!)_**

"Which part?" Ariel asked.

"All of it. Sabina's not going to be easy to force into a certain direction I bet, and that's the most complicated circle I've ever seen you do. And that's saying something, considering what I've seen you create."

Ariel grinned. "We'll be fine." She paused. "Just, make sure Sabina's the only immortal that winds up in the circle. It'll trap any non-human that walks into it, and I kinda don't want to get stuck. Wouldn't end well."

* * *

The two swordswomen continued to exchange blows. Bill wondered where Mabel learned to fight as well as she did, as even he had difficulties keeping Sabina at bay as long as she did. Ariel was the only person he knew of who could best Sabina.

Meanwhile, Mabel was grateful Ariel had spent all that time in the time-space-bubble teaching her how to use her defensive power- the ability to bring to life any weapon she could imagine. They'd spent countless hours working with swords (and the Astral blade she currently held in her hands was by far her favorite), but she'd also trained with bow and arrows, crossbows, guns, there was even one weapon she liked using that was several hundred knives she could send anywhere she willed- which would've been cool, but too risky to use with the others so close by.

All the same, she was quickly wearing down. Sabina was much, much faster than a human like Mabel, and she wouldn't be able to hold off the woman for much longer. Good thing she didn't have to.

* * *

Ariel held her hands just over the circle as she chanted, "Abscondere, occultare, numquam revelare. Abscondere, occultare, numquam revelare. Abscondere, occultare, numquam revelare." A flash of light covered the circle. When it had faded the circle was invisible to Ford, although he could remember where it was supposed to be.

Ariel stood, dusting herself off. "All right. We're ready."


End file.
